Mattimeo (Redwall) - Hardcover

Jacques, Brian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 039921741X ISBN 13: 9780399217418

Publisher: Philomel Books, 1990

Synopsis

Slagar the Fox is determined to vanquish peaceable Redwall. Gathering his mercenary band of rats, stoats, and weasels, he advances upon the abbey with a cunning scheme-rather than making courageous battle plans, he will steal the children of Redwall from under their parents' very noses. And his prize captive will be Mattimeo, the headstrong young son of Matthias, the fearless mouse warrior!

About this title

Review:

Preparations for the feast for the Summer of the Golden Rain are underway at Redwall Abbey, and young Mattimeo's mother sets him to work with the other inhabitants. His father, Matthius, is the guardian of Redwall Abbey and it is this fact that puts the young Mattimeo in danger, as the evil Slagar the Fox plots to kidnap him in a bid to shake the very foundations of the Abbey and its inhabitants.

Rip-roaring adventure at its very best, Mattimeo is one of the exquisitely executed and totally bewitching tales in the best-selling Redwall series. Brian Jacques, with his masterly use of language and enviable talent for descriptive prose that transports the reader to the very heart of Redwall, magically weaves an epic tale breathtaking in proportion and design. Utterly addictive, Mattimeo is packed with so much color, passion, fury, and love that it will leave readers desperate for more. --Susan Harrison

About the Author:

"I sometimes think it ironic for an ex-seaman, longshoreman, truck driver, policeman, bus driver, etc., to find success writing children's novels," says Brian Jacques (pronounced "Jakes"). Yet it is all too true. With the publication of his first children's book in 1987, the award-winning Redwall, Jacques' fresh talent has received exceptional praise from reviewers in the United States and England. Newbery Award winner Lloyd Alexander called it "a fine work, literate, witty, filled with the excitement of genuine storytelling. Young people will surely be captivated. I hope they give their elders a chance to share the delights."

A well-known radio personality in his native Liverpool--as well as an actor, stand-up comic, and playwright--Brian Jacques is the host of "Jakestown" on BBC Radio Merseyside. Ever the performer, Jacques is well-known for applying his acting and entertainment background to his lively presentations to legions of young fans at schools across the United States and England.

Brian Jacques was born in Liverpool, England on June 15th, 1939. Along with forty percent of the population of Liverpool, his ancestral roots are in Ireland, County Cork to be exact.

He grew up in the area around the Liverpool docks. His interest in adventure stories began at an early age with reading the books of: Daniel Defoe, Sir Henry Rider Haggard, Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Thomas Malory, Robert Michael Ballantyne, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Kenneth Grahame. He attended St. John's School, an inner city school that had its playground on the roof. On his first day at St. John's, at the age of ten, he had an experience that marked his potential as a writer. When given an assignment of writing a story about animals, he wrote about the bird that cleaned a crocodile's teeth. The teacher could not, and would not, believe that a ten year old could write that well. When young Brian refused to falsely say that he had copied the story, he was caned as "a liar". He had always loved to write, but it was only then, that he realized that he had a talent for writing.

Some teachers at St. John's proved to be good role models. As Mr. Jacques recalls:

"My favourite teacher was Mr. Austin Thomas. He looked like Lee Marvin. Big Man. A Captain in World War II. He came to school on a big bush bike with the haversack on back. He was a man's man. Always fair. I was fourteen at the time when Mr. Thomas introduced the class to poetry and Greek literature. (Because of him, I saved seven shillings and sixpence to buy The Iliad and The Odyssey at this dusty used book shop.)"

This interest in poetry extended to Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Goldsmith.It was also at St. John's that Brian met a teacher, Alan Durband (who also taught two Beatles, Paul McCartney and George Harrison), who, more than thirty years later would bring about a major change in his life.

After Brian finished school at fifteen, he set out to find adventure as a merchant seaman. He travelled to many far away ports, including New York, Valparaiso, San Francisco, and Yokohama. Tiring of the lonely life of a sailor, he returned to Liverpool where he worked as a railway fireman, a longshoreman, a long-distance truck driver, a bus driver, a boxer, a bobby (Police Constable 216D), a postmaster, and a stand-up comic.

Penguin mourns the passing of celebrated children’s book author Brian Jacques

About this edition

• Publisher: Philomel Books
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 039921741X
• ISBN 13: 9780399217418
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 448