Henry turns over a few answers in his whirring brain, perhaps trying to decide whether to take the question seriously or to treat it as a joke. He settles on something in between. “I want a special medal,” he decides. “It wouldn’t be a gold one. Not a silver one. What comes after bronze? Pewter? I want a pewter medal. And I want it to be engraved with the words: ‘He fell over in the race. But he participated.’” Towards the end of Rising to the Surface (which breaks off before his turn to academia, theatre acting and novel writing), Henry considers Winifred’s advice about life being a garden needing tending. He concludes with melancholy frankness that working within the entertainment industry can “make you the most neglectful gardener on Earth”. My thanks to Macmillan Children’s Books for an eARC and to MacMillan U.K. Audio for a review copy of the unabridged audiobook edition, both via NetGalley, of ‘The Book of Legends: What if all the stories were real?’ by Sir Lenny Henry. The book is illustrated by Keenon Ferrell and the audiobook is read by the author.

In his drive for greater inclusivity, the author was inspired to learn sign language himself and to feature a deaf character in the form of Bran. We see the twins communicate through BSL as they journey through a world of wizards, storytelling Vikings, a villainous prince and a larger-than-life Zebracorn. Lenny Henry’s mum used to say to him: our lives are like gardens. Be careful what you plant in them because everything needs tending. “And I don’t think I’ve planted my own garden very judiciously,” Henry says when we meet for lunch on a mild September afternoon. It is three weeks to the day since he published a volume of his memoirs, Rising to the Surface. In another three, his children’s novel, The Book of Legends, will appear in bookshops. Overnight, episodes of the new The Lord of the Rings TV show, The Rings of Power, will appear online; Henry has a small role as a hobbit. At home in Oxfordshire he keeps a copy of The Sopranos scripts on his bedside table, to help him sharpen his showrunning work on an imminent ITV drama about the Windrush generation. GQ magazine recently suggested that Henry was undergoing a renaissance (a “ Lenaissance”, they said) but honestly, all through his long career, Henry has flitted and filled his days like this, gigging, writing, acting, campaigning, broadcasting, studying.A signed copy of "The Book of Legends" has been donated to the library and is further inscribed with the words: “To everyone at Dudley Library, you are responsible for all of this. Big love and thanks – Lenny Henry". I enjoyed this very much. While intended for readers aged 8 and older, I feel that like many Middle Grade books it will appeal to readers of all ages. But then their mum goes missing, all her stories turn out to be a portal to another world, they're going to have a huge, magical adventure on their hands. WoW.......and their adventure begins and what a brilliant adventure it was. Quests are no joke (but there are lots of jokes in this book) and this is the quest of a lifetime . . .

The Book of Legends, written for an audience of aged eight and older, is the story of Bran and his sister Fran, whose mum is a storyteller at a local bookshop. Perfect for fans of fast-paced adventures, The Book of Legends, from comedian Lenny Henry is a laugh-out-loud magical story for 8 -12 year olds, read by the author.When Henry wrote this up in a first volume of memoir, 2019’s Who Am I Again?, it was “like ripping off a plaster”, he says. “I felt like I was being truthful about myself for the first time, where before I’d had to be economical. And now I can talk about my birth father without feeling like …” He does an impression of a tortured superhero in pain. He grits his teeth and groans. Then he drops the performance, Lenny again, and says: “They’re all dead now. I can’t hurt them.”

This was such a delightful tale, bursting with magic and adventure. There are also plenty of jokes. PDF / EPUB File Name: The_Book_of_Legends_-_Lenny_Henry.pdf, The_Book_of_Legends_-_Lenny_Henry.epub My thanks to MacMillan U.K. Audio for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘The Book of Legends: What if all the stories were real?’ by Sir Lenny Henry. The audiobook is read by the author.

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Lenny Henry is just brilliant in so many way. His latest book/audiobook is about two ordinary kids, who are about to go on one extraordinary adventure!