The Cockatrice Boys by Joan Aiken
On a rainy September Sunday in the near future a cargo of strange, shapeless bags appears on the luggage carousel at Manchester Airport. The bags are huge, and some people think they move, but everyone is quite willing to forget them when they disappear. Only later, when Britain has been devastated by the cockatrice monsters they contain, is this recognised as the beginning of disaster. A train is sent with forces to do battle with the monsters and with tinned carrots to feed the starving population of Manchester. The last recruit to the train is a drummer boy, Dakin and his adventures are told in this imaginative story.
Joan Delano Aiken (1924-2004) was the daughter of the American poet, Conrad Aiken. Joan had a variety of jobs, including working for the BBC, the United Nations Information Centre and then as features editor for a short story magazine. Her first children's novel, The Kingdom of the Cave, was published in 1960. Joan Aiken wrote over a hundred books for young readers and adults and is recognized as one of the classic authors of the twentieth century. Her best-known books are those in the James III saga, of which The Wolves of Willoughby Chase was the first title, published in l962 and awarded the Lewis Carroll prize. Both that and Black Hearts in Battersea have been filmed. Her books are internationally acclaimed and she received the Edgar Allan Poe Award in the United States as well as the Guardian Award for Fiction in this country for The Whispering Mountain. In 1999 Joan Aiken was awarded an MBE for her services to children's books.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780141300108 |
| ISBN 10 | 0141300108 |
| Title | The Cockatrice Boys |
| Author | Joan Aiken |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Penguin Random House Children's UK |
| Year published | 1998-07-30 |
| Number of pages | 192 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |