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The Search for Delicious

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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Search for Delicious tells the tale of Gaylen, a twelve-year-old royal messenger, tasked with defining "Delicious" for the kingdom's new dictionary. His journey across towns and farms sparks a kingdom-wide crisis that threatens civil war. Along the way, Gaylen encounters mystical beings such as the 900-year-old woldweller, the bard Canto, mysterious dwarfs, and finally Ardis, who may hold the key to peace.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$3700

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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This enchanting fantasy adventure is ideal for children and young readers who enjoy imaginative quests and classic tales filled with magic and discovery.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

In this classic novel by a Newbery Honor author, the Prime Minister is compiling a dictionary, and when no one at court can agree on the meaning of delicious, the King sends his 12-year-old messenger Gaylen to poll the country. Illustrations.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Natalie Babbitt's memorable first novel, The Search for Delicious, about a boy who nearly causes a civil war in the kingdom all because of his work on the royal dictionary.

Gaylen, the King's messenger, a skinny boy of twelve, is off to poll the kingdom, travelling from town to farmstead to town on his horse, Marrow. At first, it is merely a question of disagreement at the royal castle over which food should stand for Delicious in the new dictionary. But soon it seems that the search for Delicious had better succeed if civil war is to be avoided.

Gaylen's quest leads him to the woldweller, a wise, 900-year-old creature who lives alone at the precise centre of the forest; to Canto, the minstrel who sings him an old song about a mermaid child and who gives him a peculiar good-luck charm; to the underground domain of the dwarfs; and finally to Ardis who might save the kingdom from havoc.

The Search for Delicious is a 1969 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year.
Featured in 4 episodes as part of the Jackanory BBC children's television series.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780312369828

Publisher: Square Fish

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 21 August 2007

Country: United States

Imprint: Square Fish

Illustration: Illustrations

Contributors:

  • Illustrated by Natalie Babbitt

Audience: Children

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 13.0mm

Width: 137.0mm

Height: 193.0mm

Weight: 159g

Pages: 192

About the Author

Artist and writer Natalie Babbitt (1932-2016) is the award-winning author of the modern classic Tuck Everlasting and many other brilliantly original books for young people. As the mother of three small children, she began her career in 1966 by illustrating The Forty-Ninth Magician, written by her husband, Samuel Babbitt. She soon tried her own hand at writing, publishing two picture books in verse. Her first novel, TheSearch for Delicious, was published in 1969 and established her reputation for creating magical tales with profound meaning. Kneeknock Rise earned Babbitt a Newbery Honor in 1971, and she went on to write--and often illustrate--many more picture books, story collections, and novels. She also illustrated the five volumes in the Small Poems series by Valerie Worth. In 2002, Tuck Everlasting was adapted into a major motion picture, and in 2016 a musical version premiered on Broadway. Born and raised in Ohio, Natalie Babbitt lived her adult life in the Northeast.

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