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  • Published: 7 June 2018
  • ISBN: 9780241326305
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 272

The Scarecrow and His Servant




A brilliantly funny and moving tale of friendship, sumptuously repackaged with new illustrations from Peter Bailey.

Featuring wonderful new illustrations from Peter Bailey, this brilliantly funny and moving tale by multi-award winning Philip Pullman, is perfect for readers young and old.
One night, during a terrible thunderstorm, a boy named Jack shelters in a barn. The following morning he is confused to find a scarecrow with a turnip head calling out to him. For a moment he thinks he is imagining it. But he isn't, the scarecrow has been struck by lightning in exactly the right way to bring him completely to life.

Jack becomes the scarecrow's personal servant and together they decide to set out and see the world. It is a journey that neither of them could have possibly imagined, filled with adventure - and it will change them both in ways they never expected . . .

  • Published: 7 June 2018
  • ISBN: 9780241326305
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 272

About the author

Philip Pullman

Philip Pullman was born in Norwich and educated in England, Zimbabwe, Australia and Wales. He studied English at Exeter College, Oxford.

His first children's book, Count Karlstein, was published in 1982. To date, he has published thirty-three books, read by children and adults alike. His most famous work is the His Dark Materials trilogy. These books have been honoured by several prizes including the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Book Prize, and (for The Amber Spyglass) the Whitbread Book of the Year Award - the first time that prize had been given to a children's book. Pullman has received numerous other awards, including the Eleanor Farjeon Award and the Astrid Lindgren Award. He was knighted in the 2019 New Year's Honours List for Services to Literature.

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Praise for The Scarecrow and His Servant

It is a remarkable skill to make simplicity and even silliness embrace such complexity yet offer children so much wisdom. Somehow, it's not surprising that Pullman can do it

The Sunday Times

The story ends as confidently as it begins, written for children with utmost respect for and delight in their intelligence, humour and imagination . . . Genius demands a continual purification and renewal of talent. Pullman has realised that and it's why he is great

The Times

Pullman has conjured up something entirely his own: a tale of great charm and wit, told in an easy style which reads as though it all came right in the first draft. It's aimed at a lower age-level than the Dark Materials trilogy . . . older children would find themselves enjoying it too

Independent on Sunday