Elementary Secondary Higher Ed Common Reads
0 0
Download high-resolution image

Krabat and the Sorcerer's Mill

Author Otfried Preussler
Translated by Anthea Bell
Ebook
New York Review Books | NYR Children's Collection
On sale Sep 23, 2014 | 264 Pages | 9781590178027
Grades 3-7
Reading Level: Lexile 890L
Add to cart Add to list Exam Copies

“One of my favorite books.” —Neil Gaiman 

The classic fairytale of a young boy’s quest for freedom from a powerful sorcerer, darkly atmospheric and filled with magic and adventure

New Year’s has passed. Twelfth Night is almost here. Krabat, a fourteen-year-old beggar boy dressed up as one of the Three Kings, is traveling from village to village singing carols. One night he has a strange dream in which he is summoned by a faraway voice to go to a mysterious mill—and when he wakes he is irresistibly drawn there. At the mill he finds eleven other boys, all of them, like him, the apprentices of its Master, a powerful sorcerer, as Krabat soon discovers.

During the week the boys work ceaselessly grinding grain, but on Friday nights the Master initiates them into the mysteries of the ancient Art of Arts. One day, however, the sound of church bells and of a passing girl singing an Easter hymn penetrates the boys’ prison: At last a plan is set in motion that will win them their freedom and put an end to the Master’s dark designs. 

Krabat & the Sorcerer’s Mill was one of Cornelia Funke’s most beloved books as a child, and it is easy to see why. It is a wondrous story of magic, black and white; of courage and cunning; and of high adventure.
Otfried Preussler (1923–2013) was born into a family of teachers in Reichenberg, Czechoslovakia, and as a boy loved listening to the folktales of the region, including the old Sorbian tale of the sorcerer’s apprentice, upon which Krabat & the Sorcerer’s Mill is based. Drafted into the army during World War II, Preussler was captured in 1944 and spent the next five years as a prisoner of war in the Tatar Republic. After his release, he moved to Bavaria and became a primary-school teacher and principal, supplementing his income by working as a reporter for a local newspaper and by writing scripts for children’s radio. One of the most popular authors for children in Germany, Preussler was twice awarded the German Children’s Book Prize. His many books have been translated into fifty-five languages and have sold over fifty million copies. New York Review Books will also publish Preussler’s The Little Witch, The Robber Hotzenplotz, and The Little Water Sprite. 

Anthea Bell is a renowned translator from the German, French, and Danish, and the winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, the Helen and Kurt Wolff Prize, and, three times over, the Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation. She has translated Asterix, Hans Christian Andersen, Cornelia Funke, Kerstin Gier, W.G. Sebald, Sigmund Freud, and several novels by Stefan Zweig, including Confusion and Journey into the Past, both available as New York Review Books Classics. She lives in the United Kingdom.
Otfried Preussler View titles by Otfried Preussler
“One of my favorite books.”  —Neil Gaiman 

“In Preussler’s masterpiece, the terror is real, the love sweet, and the suspense twisted tight.”  —J. Alison James

"Like many of the classic children’s books being reissued by New York Review Books, Krabat & the Sorcerer’s Mill by Otfried Preussler has the potential to appeal to readers of various ages: nostalgia-seekers who enjoyed Anthea Bell’s excellent translation when it was first published in the 1970s, and young aficionados of fantasy fiction who’ll be happy to discover, in teenage hero Krabat, a worthy progenitor to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and Christopher Paolini’s Eragon….For Krabat, he drew on the folk tales he loved as a child, basing the book on a Wendish legend. But it is Preussler’s own storytelling mastery and gift for atmosphere that render this Bildungsroman-meets-Gothic horror both timeless and splendidly, creepily original." —Emma Garman, Words Without Borders

About

“One of my favorite books.” —Neil Gaiman 

The classic fairytale of a young boy’s quest for freedom from a powerful sorcerer, darkly atmospheric and filled with magic and adventure

New Year’s has passed. Twelfth Night is almost here. Krabat, a fourteen-year-old beggar boy dressed up as one of the Three Kings, is traveling from village to village singing carols. One night he has a strange dream in which he is summoned by a faraway voice to go to a mysterious mill—and when he wakes he is irresistibly drawn there. At the mill he finds eleven other boys, all of them, like him, the apprentices of its Master, a powerful sorcerer, as Krabat soon discovers.

During the week the boys work ceaselessly grinding grain, but on Friday nights the Master initiates them into the mysteries of the ancient Art of Arts. One day, however, the sound of church bells and of a passing girl singing an Easter hymn penetrates the boys’ prison: At last a plan is set in motion that will win them their freedom and put an end to the Master’s dark designs. 

Krabat & the Sorcerer’s Mill was one of Cornelia Funke’s most beloved books as a child, and it is easy to see why. It is a wondrous story of magic, black and white; of courage and cunning; and of high adventure.

Author

Otfried Preussler (1923–2013) was born into a family of teachers in Reichenberg, Czechoslovakia, and as a boy loved listening to the folktales of the region, including the old Sorbian tale of the sorcerer’s apprentice, upon which Krabat & the Sorcerer’s Mill is based. Drafted into the army during World War II, Preussler was captured in 1944 and spent the next five years as a prisoner of war in the Tatar Republic. After his release, he moved to Bavaria and became a primary-school teacher and principal, supplementing his income by working as a reporter for a local newspaper and by writing scripts for children’s radio. One of the most popular authors for children in Germany, Preussler was twice awarded the German Children’s Book Prize. His many books have been translated into fifty-five languages and have sold over fifty million copies. New York Review Books will also publish Preussler’s The Little Witch, The Robber Hotzenplotz, and The Little Water Sprite. 

Anthea Bell is a renowned translator from the German, French, and Danish, and the winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, the Helen and Kurt Wolff Prize, and, three times over, the Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation. She has translated Asterix, Hans Christian Andersen, Cornelia Funke, Kerstin Gier, W.G. Sebald, Sigmund Freud, and several novels by Stefan Zweig, including Confusion and Journey into the Past, both available as New York Review Books Classics. She lives in the United Kingdom.
Otfried Preussler View titles by Otfried Preussler

Praise

“One of my favorite books.”  —Neil Gaiman 

“In Preussler’s masterpiece, the terror is real, the love sweet, and the suspense twisted tight.”  —J. Alison James

"Like many of the classic children’s books being reissued by New York Review Books, Krabat & the Sorcerer’s Mill by Otfried Preussler has the potential to appeal to readers of various ages: nostalgia-seekers who enjoyed Anthea Bell’s excellent translation when it was first published in the 1970s, and young aficionados of fantasy fiction who’ll be happy to discover, in teenage hero Krabat, a worthy progenitor to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and Christopher Paolini’s Eragon….For Krabat, he drew on the folk tales he loved as a child, basing the book on a Wendish legend. But it is Preussler’s own storytelling mastery and gift for atmosphere that render this Bildungsroman-meets-Gothic horror both timeless and splendidly, creepily original." —Emma Garman, Words Without Borders

Other Books by this Author

Related Articles

Social Studies & History English Language Arts

May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Join us this month and beyond to celebrate the cultures and contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Browse a curated selection of fiction and nonfiction books by AANHPI creators that we are sure your students will love. Find our collections of titles here: Elementary

Read more

May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Social Studies & History English Language Arts
General Education & Professional Learning

Reading with Purpose Summit Event

On Monday, June 10th, Penguin Random House Education and DK Learning co-hosted a Reading with Purpose Summit Event in collaboration with Molly Ness, PhD. The event took place at Penguin Random House’s NYC headquarters and included sessions featuring leading education experts and a lunchtime author panel. The in-person professional learning event was built to show

Read more

Reading with Purpose Summit Event

General Education & Professional Learning
Social Studies & History Math The Arts General Early Concepts Education & Professional Learning English Language Arts Favorite Authors & Series Science & Technology

2024 Elementary School Collection

The Penguin Random House Education Elementary School Collection features outstanding fiction, nonfiction, and picture books from Penguin Young Reader’s, Random House Children’s, DK, and Grupo Editorial, as well as children’s publishers distributed by Penguin Random House. Explore online or download this valuable resource to discover great books in specific topic areas such as: Leveled Readers,

Read more

2024 Elementary School Collection

Social Studies & History Math The Arts General Early Concepts Education & Professional Learning English Language Arts Favorite Authors & Series Science & Technology
DK Learning Phonic Books Sampler Request
General Publisher's Spotlight English Language Arts

DK Learning Phonic Books Sampler Request

Thank you for your interest in DK Learning | Phonic Books. To download the DK Learning | Phonic Books sampler with four complete readers, please click here and complete the form. Once your information is successfully submitted, a link to download the sampler will be provided on the confirmation screen.   Click here to learn

Read more

DK Learning Phonic Books Sampler Request

General Publisher's Spotlight English Language Arts
education translanguaging collections affirming bilingual and multilingual learners
General Education & Professional Learning English Language Arts Favorite Authors & Series The Arts

PRH Education Translanguaging Collections

Translanguaging is a communicative practice of bilinguals and multilinguals, that is, it is a practice whereby bilinguals and multilinguals use their entire linguistic repertoire to communicate and make meaning (García, 2009; García, Ibarra Johnson, & Seltzer, 2017)   It is through that lens that we have partnered with teacher educators and bilingual education experts, Drs.

Read more

PRH Education Translanguaging Collections

General Education & Professional Learning English Language Arts Favorite Authors & Series The Arts

Penguin Random House Elementary Education

© 2025 Penguin Random House

Back to Top
0
    • 0
    Wish List (0)