6 h 44 minAudiobook2 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the fields near home could introduce you to the people who shaped them centuries ago?
Dan and Una are playing near their Sussex home when a scene from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream brings them face to face with Puck. This ancient countryside spirit opens their familiar world to visitors from England's past. Each arrives with a life to tell, not just a lesson to teach.
Rudyard Kipling's linked stories and poems move from Weland, a smith once worshipped as a god, to Parnesius and his service at Hadrian's Wall. Sir Richard Daltingridge tells of conquest and friendship; Kadmiel brings Jewish life in medieval England into view. Through these encounters, the children discover how different origins and loyalties shape the land they call home.
What you’ll discover
- Magic close to home Follow Puck as he brings distant centuries into the children's own Sussex countryside.
- Skill and fading powers Meet Weland in a tale of craftsmanship, service, and the passing of ancient gods.
- Duty on the frontier Stand with Parnesius at Hadrian's Wall, where friendship and loyalty face threats and struggles for power.
- Many lives, one land Discover knights, soldiers, craftsmen, and outsiders whose experiences give England's past a human face.
- Stories joined by poems Move through seafaring adventure and departing fairies, with poems linking individual lives to shared memory.
Who will love it
For readers who love folklore, countryside adventures, and history told through individual lives, with Sussex childhood opening onto earlier England.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Dan and Una meet an ancient countryside spirit
- Puck brings past centuries to life
- Old gods fade and unlikely friendships grow
- Friendship and duty shape life at Hadrian’s Wall
- Voyages and fairy tales meet medieval Jewish history
- Puck reveals centuries beneath the children's countryside
Who’s who
- PuckAn ancient spirit of the countryside brings England's past into Dan and Una's everyday world.
- Dan and UnaTwo Sussex children meet historical visitors and learn to see familiar places through the lives of earlier inhabitants.
- Sir Richard DaltingridgeA Norman knight tells stories of conquest, friendship, and the making of a home in England.
- ParnesiusA Roman soldier describes loyalty and service on Britain's northern frontier.
- KadmielA Jewish figure connects the children's encounters with medieval England and the struggle surrounding Magna Carta.
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- Audiobook
- 6 h 44 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Puck de la Colline de Pook in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Puck de la Colline de Pook
by Rudyard Kipling · 1906
Puck brings England's past into two Sussex children's world, revealing the lives that shape the land they call home.
Easy read5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Puck of Pook's Hill is Rudyard Kipling's collection of linked stories and poems in which two children meet figures from England's past through the magic of Puck. It makes history feel close and personal, showing how soldiers, settlers, craftsmen, and outsiders help shape the land the children call home.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Dan and Una meet an ancient countryside spirit
Dan and Una are playing near their home in Sussex when they perform part of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Their play brings them face to face with Puck, an ancient spirit who belongs to the English countryside. He is mischievous, but he also knows the long history hidden beneath familiar fields, woods, and streams.
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What is Puck of Pook's Hill about?
Two children in Sussex meet Puck, who introduces them to people from England's past. Their visitors tell stories of ancient beliefs, the Norman Conquest, Roman Britain, and medieval life. The book combines these linked encounters with poems about history, belonging, and the land.
Is Puck of Pook's Hill a novel or a collection of stories?
It is a collection of linked stories and poems, first published in 1906. Dan, Una, Puck, and the Sussex setting provide a shared frame, while the historical visitors tell separate tales. Some visitors return across several stories, giving the collection a connected shape.
Is Kipling's Puck the same as Shakespeare's Puck?
Kipling draws on the fairy figure associated with Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and older English folklore. The children's performance of Shakespeare's play begins their encounter. Kipling gives Puck a particular role as a keeper of local memory and a guide to England's past.
The author
Rudyard Kipling
1865–1936 · English novelist and poet
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) was an English writer and poet born in Bombay, India. He lived in India, England and the United States. He wrote The Jungle Book (1894), The Second Jungle Book (1895), Kim (1901) and Just So Stories (1902). He died in London in 1936.
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