Book description
Marcus is a young baker in Ancient Rome, living with his family in
the shadow of the murderous Emperor Littleboots. When a slave boy
shoves the reins of a sleek, beautiful horse into Marcus's hands
seconds before he is killed by a soldier, Marcus knows he's in danger
- because the horse is Incitatus, the Emperor's most prized and
powerful animal.
Will Marcus find a way to keep Incitatus hidden? Are the rumours of
Littleboots's death true - or is it all a trick? And how can Marcus
save himself, and his family?
A fast-paced adventure from the winner of both the Whitbread
Children's Book Award and the 2005 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.
Kate Thompson is one of the most exciting authors writing for
young people today for she is a born storyteller, highly original and
thought provoking in her ideas. She has travelled widely in the USA
and India and studied law in London. After living in County Clare, she
moved to Kinvara in County Galway and it was there that she discovered
her passion for playing the fiddle. She is now an accomplished player
and also has a great interest in restoring instruments.
Kate is the only author to win the Children's Books Ireland Bisto
Book of the Year award four times - in 2002 for The Beguilers, in 2003
for The Alchemist's Apprentice, in 2004 for Annan Water and in 2006
for The New Policeman.
The New Policeman also won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize
2005, the Whitbread Book Award Children's category 2005, the
Children's Book of the Year in the Irish Book Awards in March 2006 and
has been longlisted for the Carnegie Medal. In March 2008 another of
Kate's books, The Last of the High Kings, was shortlisted for the 2008
Children's Books Ireland Bisto Award, and Creature of the Night was
longlisted for the 2008 Booktrust Teenage Prize.
