The Flint Heart

Gr 3–6—Newbery Medal winner Katherine Paterson has teamed up with her husband, John, to retell a 1910 fairy story (Candlewick, 2011) originally written by Eden Phillpott. The tale begins in the Stone Age when a village mystery man inadvertently makes a heart shaped charm out of flint that has the power to make its owner cold and ruthless. After its first owner comes to an evil end, the heart is lost for thousands of years until it is unearthed by an unsuspecting farmer. His children are alarmed when he suddenly becomes mean and dishonest and they go to the fairy folk who live in nearby hills to find out how to save their father. The story is brimming with old-fashioned charm. The young heroes are like the children in Edith Nesbit's The Five Children and It (Puffin Classics, reprint 2008) and other stories from the early 1900s—stout, resourceful, and ever so polite. Paterson's descriptions of the fairy world are fanciful and full of gentle British satire. Ralph Lister has the perfect British accent, and clearly establishes each character's age, personality, and social status with the use of accent and tone. Have the book available so listeners can peruse John Rocco's remarkable illustrations.—Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT