Book Info
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Paperback400 pages
Publisher
Walker Books LtdPublication date
1st June 2009ISBN
9781406307269Children's Author 'Like-for-Like' recommendations
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Toby Alone
Timothee De Fombelle
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Julia Eccleshare's comment:
Winner of the 2009 Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation.
We think this is an exciting, gripping fantasy story of a miniature world under threat and a boy hunted by his own people. In a sentence, The Borrowers for the 21st Century. Be prepared to be transported into this amazing miniature land where dangers lurk around every nook and cranny for a boy who must try to stop the wonton destruction of his world, which in turn is bringing potentially unstoppable climate change. It'a a real page-turner and heart-rending too with some wonderfully detailed line illustrations which compliment the story so well. Translated from the French by the award-winning Sarah Adrizzone and itself winner of numerous awards including France’s prestigious Prix Sorcieres and, in translation, Italy’s Premio Andersen prize.
The sequel to Toby Alone, Toby Alone 2: Toby and the Secrets of the Tree is out now
Who is Julia Eccleshare ?
Synopsis
Toby Alone by Timothee De FombelleAn awards-laden adventure of heroism, friendship and survival - with
a powerful ecological message - set in a captivating miniature world.
Toby Lolness is just one and a half millimetres tall, and he's the most
wanted person in his world, the Great Oak Tree. When Toby's father
makes a ground-breaking discovery, tapping into the very heart of the
Tree's energy, he also realises that exploiting it - as some tree
dwellers are doing - could do permanent damage to their world. Refusing
to reveal the secret of his intention to an enraged community, the
family is exiled. But one man is determined to get hold of the
forbidden knowledge … and his plan is to destroy the Tree. Now Toby’s
parents have been imprisoned and sentenced to death. Only Toby has
managed to escape, but for how long?
For more information, visit www.walkerbooks.co.uk
A message from the author:
I've described my novel as an
adventure story, a chase, written as an escape from the reality I see
from my study. I wanted the world I created to have the same laws as
ours, and strangely my characters find themselves facing the same
difficulties, problems and worries as we find on our own green - or
less and less green - planet. The tree is a living organism, and a
growing consciousness takes place little by little. There is a whole
geography to the tree, a social order - the Lower Branches, the High
Branches, new cities springing up on the outskirts of the traditional
villages - and re-reading the book, I come to recognise that it has a
serious message for us facing our own world at the start of this
millennium.
Reviews
'Narratives thread like a spider web across time and space,
revealing hidden secrets at just the right moment. Sarah Adams's
translation manages to retain a French tone in the English to
distinctive effect.' The Guardian
'An action packed fantasy that ultimately sounds a serious warning about the threat to the natural world from the human race.' Books Quarterly
'Evocative illustrations ... The ethereal world it creates pulls the
reader in and the ecological message is saved from feeling too forced.'
The Observer
About The Author
Timothée de Fombelle is a much-admired French playwright. Initially working as a teacher/lecturer, he soon turned to writing and in 2006 produced his first novel, Toby Alone, known in his native France as Tobie Lolness. Highly acclaimed, it has been translated into 22 different languages and has won numerous prizes. Toby’s extraordinary story continues in Elisha’s Eyes, out in 2009 .
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