In and around all of this expert storytelling, Sophie Blackall’s designs and luminous illustrations give great depth and additional heart to the book, and mark this out as a very special collaboration. That said, it’s also a gripping story of stories, so prepare to be held and propelled towards a rich and satisfying ending. In places, one sentence builds on another in ways that will stop you in your tracks.

The crafting in The Beatryce Prophecy is typically exact – just so – and typically affecting. Roddy Doyle once described Anne Tyler as ‘the greatest line-and-length novelist in the world.’ For me, Kate DiCamillo, is a truly great line-by-line, as well as line-and-length novelist writing novels suitable for children. So I think I am safe to say that The Beatryce Prophecy is wonderful. Do I love all of Anne Tyler’s books uncritically? Almost, but not quite. When I think of Kate DiCamillo as a writer, I often associate her work with my other favourite, Anne Tyler. If I say it is wonderful, is it because I am predisposed to thinking it is wonderful? I think I have managed to reassure myself. In approaching this review, I did wonder about the degree of bias I now have in relation to this author. I’m also well aware of Just Imagine’s commitment to properly critical thought around children’s literature. I’m on record as being a keen admirer – an understatement – of DiCamillo’s earlier novels. With its timeless themes, unforgettable cast, and magical medieval setting, Kate DiCamillo’s lyrical tale, paired with resonant black-and-white illustrations by Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall, is a true collaboration between masters.Before I get to the business of actually reviewing this latest book from Kate DiCamillo, please forgive a little reviewer’s angst. But Beatryce knows that, should she lose her way, those who love her-a wild-eyed monk, a man who had once been king, a boy with a terrible sword, and a goat with a head as hard as stone-will never give up searching for her, and to know this is to know everything. As the monk nurses Beatryce to health, he uncovers her dangerous secret, one that imperils them all-for the king of the land seeks just such a girl, and Brother Edik, who penned the prophecy himself, knows why.Īnd so it is that a girl with a head full of stories-powerful tales-within-the-tale of queens and kings, mermaids and wolves-ventures into a dark wood in search of the castle of one who wishes her dead. Gentle Brother Edik finds the girl, Beatryce, curled in a stall, wracked with fever, coated in dirt and blood, and holding fast to the ear of Answelica the goat. In a time of war, a mysterious child appears at the monastery of the Order of the Chronicles of Sorrowing. We shall all, in the end, find our way home.

We shall all, in the end, be led to where we belong.

The beatryce prophecy by kate dicamillo