Four Tales: Philip Pullman

The book itself is beautiful and thankfully there is amazing content within the book to warrant a 5 star review.The stories feel very Hans Christian Anderson - there's a darkness to them that's intriguing and intoxicating. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck reading Clockwork, which is also my favourite of the stories. I love a thriller and I had no idea what was coming next with that tale and it's twists and turns.Peter Bailey's illustrations are gorgeous.This is a book that adults might enjoy even more than children!

Each of the four stories contained in this edition are worthy of detailed and glowing reviews. They're all told in Pullman's signature narrative voice, charmingly simple, but playing with big themes and interesting ideas. 'Clockwork' was one of my favourite books as a child, and it retains a special place to this day. It is the edition itself that I wish to review most of all, however. It really is quite wonderful. The dustcover is beautiful to look at, capturing the magic and excitement to be found within each tale. Page quality and binding are all of high quality, impressive considering the low price of this volume. The stories are interspersed by the original illustrations by Peter Bailey, which are charming and relevant to the stories being told. I was pleased to see that the original font size of the first editions has been retained, making this perfect reading for both young and old alike. There is both a newly written prologue and brief epilogue by Pullman, displaying his usual dry wit. Though short, I felt they were a pleasant addition.I would urge anyone who hasn't yet experienced the magic of Pullman's 'fairy tales' to buy this collection. For me, he is one of the best storytellers ever, and I'd happily read these tales again and again. When combined in such a beautiful edition, they'll look just as good on your bookcase as when you're curled up reading them.

Harsh rating not based on the stories. I hadn’t appreciated how enormous this book is. Not designed for children’s hands. My kid can’t hold it!

I bought this as a Christmas gift for my grandson who loves Pullman as an author. He was so excited to have more stories to read by one of his favourite authors.Good value for money

Brilliant collection of stories! Quick good addition for a child or adults stocking at Christmas.

I am a great fan of Philip Pullman especially His Dark Matters and The Dust series. However this book is definitely for the younger child and would be good for reading aloud. I really enjoyed I was a rat story. Read it to your children they will enjoy it.

We bought The Firework Maker's Daughter from the school fete on Saturday and were so gripped by it we had to buy more Philip Pullman stories. This compendium includes three other stories in the same modern fairy tale vein and is excellent value compared to buying the books seperately. It is however quite a large book so not suitable for travelling. The stories use language quite precisely and introduce lots of ideas, so I spent as much time explaining things to my nine year old as they did reading the books, which is no bad thing, but do expect to have some parental involvement.

Bought as a present for my mum to introduce her to Phillip Pullman. shes now reading La Belle Sauvage!