His Dark Materials: Once Upon a Time in the North
Part of the His Dark Materials Series

His Dark Materials: Once Upon a Time in the North

Paperback

Grades Grade 5 & Up
Ages 10 and up

A not-to-be-missed prequel episode from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials universe.

Lee Scoresby—Texan aeronaut and future friend to Lyra Belacqua—is just 24 years old, and he’s recently won his hot-air balloon in a poker game. He finds himself floating North to the windswept Arctic island of Novy Odense, where he and his hare daemon Hester are quickly tangled in a deadly plot involving an oil magnate, a corrupt mayoral candidate, and Lee’s longtime nemesis from the Dakota Country, a hired killer with at least twenty murders to his name.

It’s only after Lee forms an alliance with one of the island’s reviled armored bears that he can fight to break up the conspiracy in a gun-twirling classic western shoot out—and battle of wits. A glimpse for Pullman fans into the first friendship of two of the most beloved characters in the His Dark Materials trilogy: Lee Scoresby and armored bear Iorek Byrnison.

Don’t miss Philip Pullman’s epic new trilogy set in the world of His Dark Materials!
** THE BOOK OF DUST **
La Belle Sauvage
The Secret Commonwealth

Award Winner

“Pullman is as fine a writer as there is for young people, and this book is a small gem.” —Booklist, Starred

"An action-oriented mini masterpiece." —Kirkus Reviews

"Exuberant, intelligent fun . . . Once again Pullman has created a work of art that is enchanting for a child but equally appealing to an adult."― The Times (London)

"Tantalisingly short, irresistibly snappy and full of dangerous derring-do." ― Independent

ISBN 9780593680414 (Audiobook Download)
Published on Feb 13, 2024
Published by Listening Library
Age Range 10 and up
Grade Grade 5 & Up
Reading Level Lexile: 940L | Fountas/Pinnell: Z

ISBN 9780399555442 (Paperback)
Published on Sep 5, 2017
Published by Yearling
Pages 144
Dimensions 5-3/16 x 7-5/8
Age Range 10 and up
Grade Grade 5 & Up
Reading Level Lexile: 940L | Fountas/Pinnell: Z

Philip Pullman

Philip Pullman is one of the most acclaimed writers working today. He is best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass), which has been named one of the top 100 novels of all time by Newsweek and one of the all-time greatest novels by Entertainment Weekly. He is also the author of another trilogy set in the same world, The Book of Dust (La Belle Sauvage, The Secret Commonwealth, and The Rose Field) as well as numerous other much-loved novels, a collection of fairy tales, and a volume of essays and speeches on writing. He has won many distinguished prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread (now Costa) Award, Parents’ Choice Gold Awards, and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Pullman was knighted for services to literature in the New Years Honours 2019. He lives in Oxford, England.

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