About the book:A princess lies sleeping in a tower amid rumours of a curse placed on her and her people. A queen, on the eve of her wedding, sets out on a quest to rescue the princess and prevent the spread of sleeping sickness. All is not what it seems in this story which is both known and not known. Combining the old and the new, Neil Gaiman spins a twist on two classic genre_fiction: fairy tales accompanied by enchanting illustrations from Chris Riddell.
Reasons for selection:The Sleeper and the Spindleis a story which introduces readers to master storyteller Neil Gaiman and exceptional illustrator, Chris Riddell. Gaiman creates an original tale by taking traditional elements and subverting the genre. The readers expectations are disrupted which makes this a challenging text. The unexpected twist will entice them to reread and look for clues that were there all along. In addition, it is a short text which makes it ideal for rereading and developing depth of response. The detailed illustrations add depth and richness to the telling. Neil Gaimans command of the English language is exquisite and makes for natural opportunities to study sentence construction.
About Take One Book:The books in the Take One Book collection can be used in conjunction with the Take One Book website, or independently. Take One Book is Just Imagines programme for teaching reading and English using high quality literature. You can find further information and free exemplar units on the Take One Book websitetakeonebook.org