• Age: 6 to 8
• Grade: 1 to 3
• Reading age: 6 to 8

Anouk, Ben and Cara dream of a fabulous treasure buried on the golden island across the harbor. A mysterious and grizzled old man offers them passage on his boat, but only if they can solve seven vexing riddles. If they succeed, a strange and magical prize awaits them.

Enchanting illustrations by Stéphane Jorisch illuminate this story by one of Britain's best-loved children's authors.

Kevin Crossley-Holland
Kevin Crossley-Holland is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Award for The Seeing Stone. He lives on the Norfolk coast in East Anglia, England.

Kevin Crossley-Holland's profile page

Stéphane Jorisch is one of Canada's most celebrated illustrators. He is a two-time winner of the Governor General's Award for Children’s Illustration for Jabberwocky and The Owl and The Pussycat. He grew up in Montréal, Quebec, where he now lives with his family.

Stéphane Jorisch's profile page

"Crossley-Holland's skill in string, powerful language remains deeply pronounced and rather lovely...Jorisch gives us a tapestry of almost medieval characters; those twisting, fanciful half-dreamt, half-believed outlines of animals and characters that twist into each other and curve around the page. His children are perfect; three distinct, diverse characters, and they're each rendered with such movement that they're a delight."

Did You Ever Stop to Think blog

"There's an undercurrent of fear to The Riddlemaster, but I loved the old-fashioned riddling of it all. It's also a beauty to look at."

School Library Journal

"Reading The Riddlemaster is like reading a long-lost fairytale...Jorisch's illustrations amplify the sense of being in a far-off land, and he includes multiethnic/multi-racial children. Kids will particularly enjoy trying to identify the animal 'characters' who journey on the boat."

Wander, Ponder, Write blog

★"A jewel box for lovers of stories, filled with riddles and allusions that will test, but not daunt, even younger readers."

Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"The riddles themselves are simple, and the illustrations of animals—many of whom mimic other famous creatures, such as Wild Things and the musicians of Bremen—complement this strange tale of adventure, cleverness, and storytelling."

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