The Stone Book Quartet facts for kids
The Stone Book Quartet is a series of four short novels written by Alan Garner. These books were published by William Collins, Sons between 1976 and 1978. The stories are set in eastern Cheshire, England. Each book focuses on one special day in the life of a different person from Alan Garner's own family. Together, the series covers more than a hundred years of history.
In 1989, Alan Garner described these books as "four very short novels" that form one complete work. He said they were about Alderley Edge, a place he often writes about, but in a real way, not a magical one. He also mentioned that writing this series was "exhausting" but the most rewarding thing he had done so far.
Contents
About The Stone Book Quartet
The four books were first released as hardcover editions. They were published by Collins and together they were about 270 pages long.
The Books in the Series
Here are the four books and when they were first published:
- The Stone Book (1976, ISBN: 0-00-184777-5)
- Tom Fobble's Day (1977, 0-00-184832-1)
- Granny Reardun (1977, 0-00-184288-9)
- The Aimer Gate (1978, 0-00-184067-3)
One year after The Aimer Gate came out, all four books were put together into one larger book. This combined edition was called The Stone Book Quartet (1979, 9780006551515). Later editions have kept this title.
Reading Order of the Stories
The stories in the series are not in the same order as their publication dates. The correct order for the story's timeline is:
- The Stone Book
- Granny Reardun
- The Aimer Gate
- Tom Fobble's Day
The Stone Book: A Special Story
The whole series is named after The Stone Book, which was the first book published and also the first in the story's timeline. This book tells a unique story about a time when stonemasonry was a very important job.
The Girl Who Wanted a Book
In The Stone Book, a girl named Mary asks her father for a book. Her father is a stonemason. He does not think that regular books or going to school are very important. Instead, he decides to make her a special book out of stone.
Award-Winning Story
The Stone Book won the 1996 Phoenix Award. This award is given by the Children's Literature Association. It honors the best English-language children's book that did not win a major award when it was first published twenty years earlier. The award is named after the mythical bird phoenix, which rises from its ashes. This name suggests that the book is "reborn" and recognized after being less known for a while.
Language and Craft
Even though the language in The Stone Book seems like modern English, it is very poetic. It uses the sounds and rhythms of the local Cheshire dialect. Alan Garner's own great-grandfather was a stonemason. The book describes how Mary's father teaches her the secrets of his craft. He does this high up on the steeple of a church he is helping to build.
When Mary asks for a book, her father shows her an even older kind of writing. It is his own stonemason's symbol carved into a rock deep inside Alderley Edge. This carving is many centuries old.
