Stone Age Tales: The Great Monster

By Terry Deary

From the bestselling author of Horrible Histories, named 'the outstanding children's non-fiction author of the 20th century' by Books For Keeps
_______________

Ideal for readers aged 7+

Mesopotamia, 2500 years ago

Everyone in the tribe must work; all the men go hunting for bulls and mountain lions - apart from Sin-leqi, that is. Sin-leqi stays home and reads tablets in the great temples. The tablets tell tales of the legendary Gilgamesh, tales that are so fantastical that lazy Sin-leqi doesn't have to work, as long as he keeps telling them. But when the story comes to end, Sin-leqi is in trouble...

A brand new and exciting tale, based on real historical and archaeological evidence, this story is full of Terry Deary's imaginative style and dry wit.

Book band: Grey
________________

'Bubbling with wit, language play and robust dialogue....just the right mix of ingredients to trigger young readers' interest in all things historical' - Books For Keeps

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Mar 8, 2018
• ISBN: 9781472950369

Terry Deary

Terry Deary is the author of over 200 fiction and non-fiction books, which have been published in 32 languages. His historical fiction for older children Tudor Terror has been praised as "a marvellous blend of fact and fiction" (School Librarian). His non-fiction has been consistently in the best-seller lists since 1994. His Horrible Histories celebrated their 15th anniversary in 2008, having sold over 10 million copies worldwide and been adapted as television series, theatre tours and museum exhibitions. Terry Deary was voted "Outstanding children's non-fiction author of the 20th Century" by Books for Keeps magazine.

Book preview

Contents

The Baby and the Eagle

The King and the Monster

The Axe and the Armour

The Demon and the Cedar

Fact File

You Try

Terry Deary’s Stone Age Tales

Terry Deary’s Saxon Tales

1

The Baby and the Eagle

Mesopotamia, 2,500 years ago

Sin-leqi was small and his arms were like twigs.

‘You’re too weak to hunt,’ his brothers said. ‘Stay at home and fetch water... if you can carry the buckets,’ they laughed.

Sin-leqi smiled and said, ‘Hunt the bulls by the river and bring me meat.’

‘What will you give us in return?’ the oldest brother asked, as he strapped on his sandals.

‘I will give you a story,’ Sin-leqi promised.

‘Make sure the water tanks are filled first,’ his uncle said, picking up his bow, his spear and his arrows.

‘Of course,’ Sin-leqi promised. The hunters set off on the hot and dusty road to the valley to see if they could catch cattle drinking from the river. It was dangerous work.

Sometimes the herds of cows would be guarded by a massive bull; sometimes a mountain lion prowled and the hunters were hunted by the fangs and claws and jaws of a beast as fast as the summer wind.

Sin-leqi watched them go. He walked to the temple and the priest gave him some clay tablets to read. ‘One day you will be the priest, Sin-leqi.’