{"product_id":"the-goldsmith-and-the-master-thief-isbn-9781782692485","title":"The Goldsmith and the Master Thief","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe first English translation of a classic adventure involving two very different twins by the celebrated author of \u003ci\u003eThe Letter for the King\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLaurenzo and Jiacomo are identical twins, as alike as two drops of water. No one can tell them apart (which comes in very handy for playing tricks on their teachers). And no one can split them up. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut when tragedy strikes their carefree young lives, they must make their own way in the world. As each brother chooses his own path - hardworking Laurenzo to make beautiful objects from gold and silver, and fearless Jiacomo to travel, explore and become an unlikely thief - it is the start of a series of incredible escapades that will test them to their limits.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlong the way they will face terrible danger, solve cunning riddles, become prisoners in a castle, sail across the ocean, fall in and out of love, stay at an enchanted inn, help save a priceless pearl, even become kings by mistake. They must use all their talents, wiles and wisdom to survive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAre you ready to join them?\"[A] wonderful book... Ms. Dragt’s drawings are as delightful as her storytelling... What makes \u003ci\u003eThe Goldsmith and the Master Thief\u003c\/i\u003e a joy is its lively spirit; what makes it refreshing is the clarity of its moral sensibility. The characters may stumble and fall, but they quickly right themselves and affirm the values of honesty and loyalty... This is a terrific family read-aloud, ideal for a mix of ages between 4 and 12.\" \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e— The Wall Street Journal\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Older readers will be swept up by the sometimes dizzyingly Shakespearean twists and complexity; younger audiences would be best pleased hearing these misadventures read aloud.\" \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e— \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Even better than \u003ci\u003eThe Letter For The King\u003c\/i\u003e, gorgeous Xmas gift.\" — \u003cb\u003eAmanda Craig, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Lie of the Land\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Captivating and beautifully written.\" — \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eAngels and Urchins\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eTonke  Dragt was born in Jakarta in 1930 and spent most of her childhood in  Indonesia. When she was twelve, she was interned in a camp run by the  Japanese occupiers, where she wrote (with a friend) her very first book  using begged and borrowed paper. Her family moved to the Netherlands  after the war and, after studying at the Royal Academy of Art in The  Hague, Dragt became an art teacher. She published her first book in  1961, followed a year later by \u003ci\u003eThe Letter for the King\u003c\/i\u003e, which won  the Children's Book of the Year award and has been translated into  sixteen languages. Dragt was awarded the State Prize for Youth  Literature in 1976 and was knighted in 2001.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLaura Watkinson studied medieval   and  modern languages at Oxford, and  taught English  around the world before  returning to the UK   to take a  Master’s in English and Applied  Linguistics, and a postgraduate    certificate in literary translation.  She is now a full-time translator  from   Dutch, Italian and German, and  has translated a number of titles  for Pushkin   Children’s Books  including \u003ci\u003eWinter in Wartime, Lampie, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eLetter for the King\u003c\/i\u003e.The First Tale\u003cbr\u003e The Birth of the Twins\u003cbr\u003e Right, now we shall begin. When we reach the end\u003cbr\u003e of our story, we shall know more than we know now.\u003cbr\u003e  ANDERSEN: ‘The Snow Queen’\u003cbr\u003e In Bainu, the beautiful capital city of Babina, there once\u003cbr\u003e lived a poor cobbler and his wife.\u003cbr\u003e One morning, two puppies came running into the cobbler’s\u003cbr\u003e workshop. They greeted him, barking and wagging their tails,\u003cbr\u003e and started playing with the shoes that he was mending.\u003cbr\u003e “What’s all this?” the cobbler shouted. “Away with you!”\u003cbr\u003e And he chased them outside.\u003cbr\u003e The next morning, however, the dogs came back, barking\u003cbr\u003e and wagging their tails as before, and once again he chased\u003cbr\u003e them out of his workshop. But when he joined his wife in the\u003cbr\u003e kitchen at lunchtime, the dogs were under the table, eating\u003cbr\u003e together from the same plate.\u003cbr\u003e “What are you doing?” he said to his wife. “Are you feeding\u003cbr\u003e those animals? They’ve already been into the workshop\u003cbr\u003e bothering me twice. Get rid of them!”\u003cbr\u003e “Oh,” said his wife, “but they’re such friendly little things!\u003cbr\u003e And have you seen how thin they are? Let them stay. They\u003cbr\u003e clearly trust us to look after them.”\u003cbr\u003e “Absolutely not,” said the cobbler. “We’re poor and we have\u003cbr\u003e a child on the way. There is no way we can have two dogs.”\u003cbr\u003e “But we always have a few leftover scraps that they could\u003cbr\u003e eat,” his wife replied. “And they can guard our house. Please,\u003cbr\u003e let them stay.”\u003cbr\u003e “As if we have anything that needs guarding!” said the\u003cbr\u003e cobbler, but his wife kept on pleading, so he gave in, because\u003cbr\u003e he was in fact just as kind-hearted as she was.\u003cbr\u003e So then they had two dogs, which brought them a lot of\u003cbr\u003e problems, but also a lot of pleasure.\u003cbr\u003e A week later, the cobbler found a basket outside his door.\u003cbr\u003e There were two kittens inside, meowing sadly.\u003cbr\u003e “We have no use for these little beasts,” he said to his wife.\u003cbr\u003e “I’m going to get rid of them.”\u003cbr\u003e “No, you can’t do that!” said his wife. “They’re so sweet.\u003cbr\u003e Look, they’ve only just opened their eyes. Let’s keep them.”\u003cbr\u003e “Absolutely not!” cried the cobbler. “We’re poor and we’re\u003cbr\u003e about to have a child. Besides, we already have two dogs.”\u003cbr\u003e “Cats hardly eat anything though,” said his wife. “And\u003cbr\u003e they catch mice.”\u003cbr\u003e Once again, the cobbler gave in, and so they had two dogs\u003cbr\u003e and two cats, which gave them a lot of trouble, but also a\u003cbr\u003e great deal of pleasure.\u003cbr\u003e Some time after that, the cobbler was hammering away in\u003cbr\u003e his workshop when two pigeons came flying in through the\u003cbr\u003e open windows and sat on his shoulders, one on each.\u003cbr\u003e “What do you want from me?” he asked. “I already have\u003cbr\u003e two dogs and two cats. And in a few days I’ll have a child too.\u003cbr\u003e Away with you! Scram!”\u003cbr\u003e But the pigeons stayed where they were.\u003cbr\u003e Fine then, thought the cobbler. I wonder what pigeon legs\u003cbr\u003e taste like.\u003cbr\u003e No sooner had he thought that than the pigeons flew up\u003cbr\u003e and away. The cobbler ran outside after them, trying to catch\u003cbr\u003e them, but they fluttered up onto the roof of his house.\u003cbr\u003e “Right, then you can just stay up there,” said the cobbler,\u003cbr\u003e and he headed back inside and told his wife that there were\u003cbr\u003e two pigeons on the roof.\u003cbr\u003e “You mustn’t eat them,” his wife replied. “They came to\u003cbr\u003e you of their own free will – and that’s good luck.”\u003cbr\u003e “Two dogs, two cats and two pigeons,” muttered the cobbler.\u003cbr\u003e “I wonder what other good luck is in store for us?”\u003cbr\u003e The next night, he received the answer to his question, when\u003cbr\u003e his wife gave birth to twins, two big and healthy baby boys.\u003cbr\u003e “Well, well,” said the cobbler the next morning, as he stood\u003cbr\u003e beside the bed where his wife lay, tired and happy, with a\u003cbr\u003e child in each arm. “Twins! And their birth was foretold by\u003cbr\u003e extraordinary events. So our sons are sure to become extraordinary\u003cbr\u003e children.”\u003cbr\u003e The boys were christened and given the names Laurenzo\u003cbr\u003e and Jiacomo.\u003cbr\u003e “We don’t have any money for christening gifts,” said their\u003cbr\u003e parents, “but we’ll still give them something. They shall each\u003cbr\u003e have a puppy, a kitten and a pigeon. Don’t we make a lovely\u003cbr\u003e family?”","brand":"Pushkin Children's Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304583909605,"sku":"NP9781782692485","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781782692485.jpg?v=1767739581","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-goldsmith-and-the-master-thief-isbn-9781782692485","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}