Puck

A pair of children happen across an ancient shrine, where they conjure up an impish sprite named Puck, who treats them to a series of tales about Old England. Rudyard Kipling, the storyteller behind Puck's fables, lived in the East Sussex region of Pook's Hill. To amuse his children, Kipling created these quasi-historical stories about the people who lived in their neighborhood centuries ago. Readers of all ages will treasure Puck's ten magical tales of adventure and intrigue. Kipling's imaginative blend of fact and fancy transports readers back to the days of William the Conqueror, to the camps of the Roman legions who guarded Hadrian's Wall against the Picts, and to the thirteenth-century court of King John. All of the stories abound in the freshness of invention and narrative vigor that have kept the author's books popular for generations. Each enchanting myth is followed by a selection of Kipling's spirited poetry.

From the author of The Jungle Book comes a magical fantasy story, rich in historical detail and filled with intrigue and excitementUna and Dan, reciting Shakespeare on a summer's evening in rural Sussex, unwittingly summon the elf Puck. They are taken on a fantastic journey through Britain's past, their magical companion plucking from history an array of fascinating characters for them to meet: Parnesius, a Roman centurion who manned Hadrian's wall; Wayland, a Saxon warrior and blacksmith; Sir Richard, a Norman knight who made an extraordinary journey to Africa; and many others. Each offers a story from his own life, mixing war and politics with adventure and intrigue. Each is rich with historical detail. One of the great classics of children's literature, Puck of Pook's Hill is by turns a fantastical story of magical otherness and a compelling exploration of history. A runaway success on first publication, it still has the power to excite children and their parents alike.

Puck of Pook's Hill is a fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1906, containing a series of short stories set in different periods of English history. It can count both as historical fantasy – since some of the stories told of the past have clear magical elements, and as contemporary fantasy – since it depicts a magical being active and practising his magic in the England of the early 1900s when the book was written.

"Rewards and Fairies" is a historical fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling published in 1910. The book consists of a series of short stories set in historical times with a linking contemporary narrative. Dan and Una are two children, living in the Weald of Sussex in the area of Kipling's own home Bateman's. They have encountered Puck and he magically conjures up real and fictional individuals from Sussex's past to tell the children some aspect of its history and prehistory, though the episodes are not always historically accurate. Another recurring character is Old Hobden who represents the continuity of the inhabitants of the land. His ancestors sometimes appear in the stories and seem very much like him. Some stories contain elements of the supernatural as well as history. (Excerpt from Wikipedia)