The author of more than fifty books for children, Paul Biegel was one of Europe’s most acclaimed and best-loved storytellers. He was born in Bussum, the Netherlands, in 1926, the youngest of nine children. Although his ambition was to become a pianist he studied law, and after a period of living in the United States he returned to the Netherlands and found work as the writer of a widely circulated comic strip. The experience inspired him to write his first novel, The Golden Guitar, which was published in 1960. The King of the Copper Mountains followed in 1965 and was named Children’s Book of the Year. The Gardens of Dorr (1969), The Little Captain (1971), The Twelve Robbers (1972), and more recently Night Story (1992) and The Soldier-Maker (1994) are amongst his most famous works. He died in
October 2006.
Visit the official Paul Biegel website
The King Of The Copper Mountains
Introduced by Leonie Biegel
With new illustrations by Sally J Collins
At the end of his thousand-year reign of the Copper Mountains old King Mansolain is tired and his heart is slowing down. When his attendant, the Hare, consults The Wonder Doctor, he is told he must keep the King engaged in life by telling him a story every night until the Doctor can find a cure. The search is on for a nightly story more wonderful than the last, and one by one the kingdom’s inhabitants arrive with theirs; the ferocious Wolf, the lovesick Donkey, the fire breathing three headed Dragon. Last to arrive is the Dwarf with four ancient books and a prophecy that the King will live for another thousand years – but only if the Wonder Doctor returns in time.