A restored 1926 children's fantasy by Beryl Irving: lonely Mig follows the mysterious Dawnchild toward Dawnland, pursued by Cousin Belinda and the Umpis. Long remembered by readers as eerie, magical, and hard to find, this edition restores the original story and Beryl's own illustrations.
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Restored 1926 edition
A rare fantasy classic republished with Beryl Irving's original illustrations reproduced inside.
Format
Paperback
Length
280 pages
Size
6 x 9 in
Binding
Perfect bound
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By Beryl Irving | Restored paperback edition
First published by Faber & Gwyer in 1926, The Dawnchild follows lonely seven-year-old Mignonette - Mig - as she is drawn out of an unhappy home by the mysterious Dawnchild and carried toward Dawnland, with cruel Cousin Belinda and the Umpis in pursuit.
The book has the strange, luminous quality readers remember from childhood: magical, moral, sometimes a little frightening, and full of images that stay in the mind. Online recollections of the old hardback keep returning to the same feeling - a cherished book read in childhood, lost, searched for, and remembered for decades.
Children’s author Vivian French remembered it as “a truly amazing fantasy story”. Other readers have described the book as a little scary, magical, and impossible to forget, with several accounts of families trying for years to replace a lost childhood copy.
This Irving Books edition restores Beryl Irving’s 1926 story for modern readers and collectors, with the original illustrations reproduced inside. It is for readers of early twentieth-century children’s fantasy, illustrated books, and family archive titles that deserve not to disappear.
Beryl Irving (1896-1965) was an author, illustrator, and broadcaster. She wrote and illustrated children’s books including The Dawnchild and later contributed illustrations to family and archive works including Good Food and Royal Navalese.
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