Winner of the 2011 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award. In a monastery in the mountains of Mourne during the Middle Ages, one young monk struggled to focus on his task: copying the Bible and other scholarly books with plain brown ink made from wood bark in plain brown books in his plain brown robe at his plain brown desk. Brother Theophane was soon transferred from the scribe’s room and assigned to make the ink that the brothers used. With his natural curiosity, Theophane discovered that inks could be made from other plants besides the wood bark. Berries and leaves produced other beautiful colors. And soon, the books the monks made were illuminated with colors and drawings. C.M. Millen’s charming story of a young monk who defied the discipline of the monastery and found his own way to express the beauty of the world will inspire young readers to explore their own world and find their own voices. Andrea Wisnewski’s illustrations, inspired by the illuminated letters that the medieval monks created in books like the Book of Kells, bring to life the colors and beauty that surrounded Brother Theophane amidst the plain world of the monastery.

After painstakingly handcrafting a replacement copy of a library book, a medieval monk tries to protect it from a hungry bear with a taste for literature. Includes historical note on illuminated manuscripts.

A young apprentice learns to tap his own wellspring of creativity with the help of the magical margins of an illuminated manuscript in this story about patience, talent, and imagination. Full color.

Why did Miss Twiggley live in a tree? Why did she send her dog, Puss, out to do the shopping? Why did she always run away and hide when people came to visit? And it was rumored that Miss Twiggley had even more peculiar habits... Old Miss Twiggley, was friendly with bears. "They shed on the sofa," she said, "but who cares?" And was it true, as the mayor's wife had heard, that she actually slept in her hat? "Simply disgraceful!" they said. But when a hurricane hits the town and the water rises, everyone is grateful to Miss Twiggley and her tree. Even better, Miss Twiggley herself learns a very important lesson, with a warm and happy ending. A beautiful read-aloud, showing people coming together during a crisis. This edition features a letter to the reader written by Dorothea Fox in 1995, explaining how she came to write this touching story.

Rhyming text reveals the process of preparing bread dough in the evening while the stove is still warm so that it will rise overnight, ready to bake into loaves before the family awakens the next morning.

In medieval Paris, Marguerite helps her nearly blind father finish painting an illuminated manuscript for his patron, Lady Isabelle. 46 color illustrations.

An illustrated month-by-month diary of a Benedictine monk's year at Westminster Abbey in the Middle Ages, written and illustrated by Westminster Abbey's very own Head Gardener.