{"product_id":"giant-isbn-9780593203507","title":"Giant","description":"\u003cb\u003eA prequel to the bestselling Merlin Saga starring Shim, a young giant who must embark on a dangerous adventure when he's shrunk to the height of a man's knee.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e* “An excellent jumping-in point for new readers as well as pleasurable reading for established fans…Simply delightful.” —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRead it before you see it! The Merlin Saga is soon to be a major motion picture!\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShim has only ever known a world of peace. Unusually big and strong even for a young giant, he lives on the magical isle of Fincayra, immersed in nature as well as tales of wizards, merfolk, and dragons.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Suddenly that world explodes in chaos. A terrible attack forces Shim and his mother to flee—and take a hazardous journey to reach the only person who could possibly help them, the mysterious Domnu. But when a wager goes horribly wrong, Shim shrinks down to a tiny fraction of his size. Now only as tall as a man’s knee, he finds himself lost in a deadly swamp. Worse yet, he has forgotten something important, something truly essential. But what?\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e As small as he is now, Shim must find giant-size courage. He embarks on a perilous quest to discover what happened, what secret he forgot, and what it really means to be a giant.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Combining his trademark passion, adventure, and spiritual depth, T. A. Barron tells the origin story of this beloved character from his highly acclaimed, international bestselling series, The Merlin Saga. As the prequel to the Saga, this story is as big as a giant... and as magical as Merlin.\u003cb\u003e“A novel rich with magic.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e— \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Brilliant first volume . . . an intense and profoundly spiritual adventure.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e— \u003ci\u003eLloyd Alexander\u003c\/i\u003e, Newbery Medal–winning author of \u003ci\u003eThe Chronicles of Prydain\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“An extraordinary journey of mind, body, and spirit, for both Merlin and ourselves.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e— \u003ci\u003eMadeleine L’Engle\u003c\/i\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eA Wrinkle in Time\u003c\/i\u003e, and winner of the Newbery Medal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Fans who have followed young Merlin through his many adventures will still enjoy trekking with him.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e— \u003ci\u003eThe Horn Book\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eT.A. Barron\u003c\/b\u003e is the award-winning author of fantasy novels such as The Merlin Saga epic--soon to be a major motion picture. He serves on a variety of environmental and educational boards including the Nature Conservancy and the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies, and is the founder of a national award for heroic children. Following a life-changing decision to leave a successful business career to write full-time in 1990, Barron has written seventeen books, but is happiest when on the mountain trails with his wife, Currie, and their five children. \u003cbr\u003e \"Seventeen boulders!” giant, she strained to lift the squirming baby in her hands. “That’s a hefty weight for a newlyborn, even for a giant.”\u003cbr\u003e Turning slowly in the sunlight, Gargolyn observed the baby closely, from his pudgy nose down to his unusually large feet. True to the giants’ ancient traditions, the baby’s mother, Vonya, had chosen to give birth outdoors. It had been a long pregnancy, lasting thirteen months—­but here they were at last, in the roofless, open-air Birthing Pavilion.\u003cbr\u003e Set in the middle of a garden and walled by hedges, the Pavilion was encircled by crowed the midwife  Gargolyn. Though she herself was a \u003cbr\u003e columns that had been carved centuries before from a hillside of silver quartz, the sparkling white rock that Fincayrans called giantstone. Those majestic columns reached skyward to the height of medium-­size spruce trees—­which is to say they reached only up to the elbows of most fully grown giants. On each column were carvings of paired faces—­one belonging to a famous giant, about whom bards had sung songs and told stories for ages, and the other belonging to that giant’s mother . . . who had, in most cases, given birth right here at this very place.\u003cbr\u003e “Hefty weight indeed,” Vonya declared, a proud smile on her face. Carefully, she raised her enormous bulk higher on the mattress stuffed with willow boughs and rushes. “Now give him back to his mother, you hear? Before you drop that weight on your toes.”\u003cbr\u003e Wrinkling her leathery brow, the midwife scowled. Even as she trembled with the weight, she grumbled, “I’ve held hundreds of babies in my time, and never dropped a single one.”\u003cbr\u003e Vonya reached her arms, as thick and sturdy as tree trunks, toward her baby. “I’m sure that’s true . . . but not many of them weighed as much as half a mountain.”\u003cbr\u003e “Right.” Gargolyn’s scowl melted into a grin. “In fact, none of them was as big at birth as this one.” As she passed the baby over to Vonya, she added, “Half his weight, I daresay, is from these plumpish feet. Just look at the size of them!”\u003cbr\u003e As if on cue, the baby kicked wildly, almost smacking the midwife’s nose.\u003cbr\u003e “At least half.” Vonya chuckled as she took the baby and folded her strong arms around him. “I’m tempted to call him Big Feet . . . until he earns his true name.”\u003cbr\u003e “No, too irreverent,” said the old midwife, shaking her ropes of gray hair. “A young giant deserves a nickname that’s more, well, \u003ci\u003erespectable\u003c\/i\u003e. Something befitting a member of Fincayra’s oldest race­—the island’s first people, the ones our great spirit Dagda carved out of the holy mountain.”\u003cbr\u003e “I know, I know,” Vonya replied. “But sometimes the old traditions need a new look. Even our creation stories need to be rewritten from time to time.”\u003cbr\u003e “Nonsense,” Gargolyn sputtered. “What kind of mother would teach her child such silliness?”\u003cbr\u003e “This one,” declared Vonya. Brushing back her auburn curls, which looked more like a wild bramble bush than a head of hair, she peered closely at her child. His pink eyes stared up at her, bright with life and curiosity . . . and also a hint of mischief.\u003cbr\u003e “Well, hello, my little jelly roll,” she cooed. “Something tells me you’re going to be writing a whole lot of new stories with your life.”\u003cbr\u003e The baby giant blinked his eyes, slowly and meaningfully, almost as if he understood.\u003cbr\u003e Vonya sighed, slumping a bit on the willow mattress. “I only wish your papa could be here to see you.” She wiped her huge forearm across her eyes. “He’d have loved to play with your chubby toes.”\u003cbr\u003e Like a tall tree that suddenly folded itself down to a smaller size, Gargolyn knelt beside the young mother and her baby. Although her old knees cracked so loud they frightened a nearby family of rabbits, who scampered away to hide in the hedges, the midwife spoke softly and gently. “My dear, I feel your loss. Jonkl was a great giant—­and he would have made a very fine papa.”\u003cbr\u003e Vonya drew a halting breath. “He told me to be brave . . . that day when he left to fight against Gawr.” She wiped her eyes again. “He just didn’t say how brave.”\u003cbr\u003e Gargolyn’s wrinkled hand touched her shoulder. “When our wizardking Tuatha asked us to send our strongest giants to help him defeat the evil warlord Gawr, we all knew there was great risk. And when your Jonkl left, he knew he was fighting for all of us . . . including your child.”\u003cbr\u003e “I just wish . . .” said Vonya in a whisper that seemed impossibly soft for a fully grown giant, “that I could see him again . . . and show him our son.”\u003cbr\u003e “Someday you will,” assured the older giant. “In the Realm of the Spirits. Without doubt, he is there right now, standing next to Dagda. And,” she added with a nod at the varied faces carved into the columns, “with the spirits of all these great giants who came before.”\u003cbr\u003e She paused, looking at Vonya with compassion. “He knows, I’m sure, that his great bravery helped Tuatha win that battle and drive away Gawr.”\u003cbr\u003e With her free hand, Gargolyn gestured toward the immense stone towers and buildings, fountains and gates, visible beyond the Pavilion. “Thanks to him, we are safe here in Varigal. All of us . . . including his beloved wife and child.”\u003cbr\u003e Vonya nodded slowly, then turned back to the baby in her arms. Looking deep into his eyes, she said, “Now we must be brave together, you and I.”\u003cbr\u003e Even as he gazed up at her, the baby giant reached out his hand and wrapped it tightly around his mother’s thumb. Astonished, she caught her breath. Was that just a coincidence? Or had that tiny little hand just made a gesture with giant-­size meaning?\u003cbr\u003e “I daresay,” she told her son, “you will give us some very special stories.”","brand":"Philomel Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46305439023333,"sku":"NP9780593203507","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593203507.jpg?v=1767728109","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/giant-isbn-9780593203507","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}