Lenny Henry is just brilliant in so many way. His latest book/audiobook is about two ordinary kids, who are about to go on one extraordinary adventure! He was introduced to Shakespeare when he made the 2006 Radio 4 series Lenny and Will. Which saw him going "in search of the magic of Shakespeare in performance." In February 2009 Henry appeared in the Northern Broadsides production of Othello. He received widespread critical acclaim in the role. Twelve-year-old twins Fran and Bran and their mum live in a small town in the Midlands, Dad having mysteriously disappeared one stormy night on a family camping trip. At least the stories Mum tells them, the tales of the Nine Dominions, provide some much-needed consolation.

Book of Legends: What if all the stories were real?: A The Book of Legends: What if all the stories were real?: A

On his 1984 wedding to French, he writes of rising to make his speech, “and suddenly regret[ting] inviting industry people. Why did I invite all these people off the telly? Why is the woman from Hi-de-Hi! at my wedding?” All through the 90s, he recalls, “I had something to prove [and] I threw myself into the work, even though, with a young child around, I could have slowed down a little and helped out a bit more.” When Winifred became gravely ill in 1998, Henry decided to go off on an arranged tour of Australia. She died while he was gone and in his memoirs he wonders what that was about. “Why couldn’t I just be at Mum’s side? I still don’t know and still question my behaviour at that time.” He describes what sound like the beginnings of the end of his marriage to French: “My selfish need to succeed through constant working [was] taking its toll on my family life. I made some bad decisions.”

More in Books

Photograph: David Vintiner/The Guardian. Set styling: Lee Flude. Fashion styling: Sarah Ann Murray. Grooming: Min Sandhu, both at Carol Hayes Management. Hair: Morris Roots. Coat: OAMC If you're coming to Coles by car, why not take advantage of the 2 hours free parking at Sainsbury's Pioneer Square - just follow the signs for Pioneer Square as you drive into Bicester and park in the multi-storey car park above the supermarket. Come down the travelators, exit Sainsbury's, turn right and follow the pedestrianised walkway to Crown Walk and turn right - and Coles will be right in front of you. You don't need to shop in Sainsbury's to get the free parking! Where to Find Us He was the voice of the "shrunken head" on the Knight Bus in the 2004 movie Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and read the audio book version of Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys.

Book of Legends by Lenny Henry | Waterstones The Book of Legends by Lenny Henry | Waterstones

From comedy legend Lenny Henry, author of The Boy With Wings, comes his fantastic second middle grade novel, The Book of Legends, perfect for fans of outrageous adventures and illustrated throughout by the incredibly talented Keenon Ferrell. I enjoyed this very much. While intended for readers aged 8 and older, I feel that like many Middle Grade books it will appeal to readers of all ages. But then, in a chapter paying off that notion of Henry “rising to the surface”, he describes winning a major industry award for one of his 2000s TV shows. The chapter comes with a photo of him holding a Golden Rose of Montreux entertainment award and the words: “What surfacing looks like.” For the reader it’s an unsettling swerve, I say. It seems to undercut his epiphanies in the previous chapters about the relative value of private and public validation. With his mother Winifred after winning talent show New Faces in 1975. Photograph: Mirrorpix/Getty ImagesTowards the end of Rising to the Surface (which breaks off before his turn to academia, theatre acting and novel writing), Henry considers Winifred’s advice about life being a garden needing tending. He concludes with melancholy frankness that working within the entertainment industry can “make you the most neglectful gardener on Earth”. About the Author: Sir Lenny Henry has risen from being a star on children's television to becoming one of Britain's best known comedians, as well as a writer, philanthropist and award-winning actor. He is co-founder of Comic Relief. Lenny is a strong advocate for diversity, is the author of The Boy With Wings, and has co-written the book Access All Areas: The Diversity Manifesto for TV and Beyond. Quests are no joke (but there are lots of jokes in this book). Two ordinary kids are about to go on one extraordinary adventure!

Book of Legends | BookTrust The Book of Legends | BookTrust

Henry turns over a few answers in his whirring brain, perhaps trying to decide whether to take the question seriously or to treat it as a joke. He settles on something in between. “I want a special medal,” he decides. “It wouldn’t be a gold one. Not a silver one. What comes after bronze? Pewter? I want a pewter medal. And I want it to be engraved with the words: ‘He fell over in the race. But he participated.’” PDF / EPUB File Name: The_Book_of_Legends_-_Lenny_Henry.pdf, The_Book_of_Legends_-_Lenny_Henry.epub Following the mysterious disappearance four years ago of their father, twelve-year-old twins Bran and Fran are living with their mum in a small Midlands town. She has always told them wonderful stories and now works as a storyteller at the Once Upon a Wow bookstore. A number of her stories are scattered throughout the text. This was such a delightful tale, bursting with magic and adventure. There are also plenty of jokes. My thanks to Macmillan Children’s Books for an eARC and to MacMillan U.K. Audio for a review copy of the unabridged audiobook edition, both via NetGalley, of ‘The Book of Legends: What if all the stories were real?’ by Sir Lenny Henry. The book is illustrated by Keenon Ferrell and the audiobook is read by the author.

The Book of Legends by Lenny Henry Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins was a wonderful and What if all the stories were real? WoW this audiobook was the bees knees I loved it and so did my nephew, Looking for a fast-paced adventure? Lenny Henry's The Book of Legends is a laugh-out-loud magical story for 8-12-year-olds, illustrated throughout by the incredibly talented Keenon Ferrell. But when their mum's treasured storybook turns out to be a portal to another world full of mythical legends, everything changes. My thanks to MacMillan U.K. Audio for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘The Book of Legends: What if all the stories were real?’ by Sir Lenny Henry. The audiobook is read by the author.

The Book of Legends: A hilarious and fast-paced quest

From 1st July 2021, VAT will be applicable to those EU countries where VAT is applied to books - this additional charge will be collected by Fed Ex (or the Royal Mail) at the time of delivery. Shipments to the USA & Canada: I highly recommend this wonderful audiobook and Big Thank you to Lenny for the precious hours I had with my nephew listening to this, He loved it Lenny Henry’s mum used to say to him: our lives are like gardens. Be careful what you plant in them because everything needs tending. “And I don’t think I’ve planted my own garden very judiciously,” Henry says when we meet for lunch on a mild September afternoon. It is three weeks to the day since he published a volume of his memoirs, Rising to the Surface. In another three, his children’s novel, The Book of Legends, will appear in bookshops. Overnight, episodes of the new The Lord of the Rings TV show, The Rings of Power, will appear online; Henry has a small role as a hobbit. At home in Oxfordshire he keeps a copy of The Sopranos scripts on his bedside table, to help him sharpen his showrunning work on an imminent ITV drama about the Windrush generation. GQ magazine recently suggested that Henry was undergoing a renaissance (a “ Lenaissance”, they said) but honestly, all through his long career, Henry has flitted and filled his days like this, gigging, writing, acting, campaigning, broadcasting, studying.Bran and Fran love living with their mum, who is the storyteller at the Once Upon a Wow bookstore in their small Midlands town. But when mum goes missing and her stories turn out to be a portal to another world, they're going to have a huge, magical adventure on their hands. In his drive for greater inclusivity, the author was inspired to learn sign language himself and to feature a deaf character in the form of Bran. We see the twins communicate through BSL as they journey through a world of wizards, storytelling Vikings, a villainous prince and a larger-than-life Zebracorn. When Henry wrote this up in a first volume of memoir, 2019’s Who Am I Again?, it was “like ripping off a plaster”, he says. “I felt like I was being truthful about myself for the first time, where before I’d had to be economical. And now I can talk about my birth father without feeling like …” He does an impression of a tortured superhero in pain. He grits his teeth and groans. Then he drops the performance, Lenny again, and says: “They’re all dead now. I can’t hurt them.” But then their mum goes missing, all her stories turn out to be a portal to another world, they're going to have a huge, magical adventure on their hands. WoW.......and their adventure begins and what a brilliant adventure it was.