{"product_id":"9781782694670","title":"King Winter's Birthday","description":"\u003cb\u003eA gorgeously illustrated and magical original fairy tale celebrating the seasons\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIt's King Winter's birthday, and he wants it to be really special. He wants all of his brothers and sisters to be there: King Summer, Queen Spring and Queen Autumn.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut the leaves and the trees whisper a warning, and as the four play magical games, something strange begins to happen outside.\u003cbr\u003eThis timeless fairy tale is a celebration of nature’s rhythms, and of a chaotic world restored to order. It was adapted from a story by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz, celebrated author of \u003ci\u003eThe Passenger\u003c\/i\u003e. Boschwitz was a refugee from Nazi Germany: he fled, aged 20, in 1935. Young as he was, he understood that it was not safe for someone like him, with a Jewish-born father, to stay. He went from country to country until he made it to England in 1939.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBefore long, Britain was at war with Germany, which meant Ulrich was branded an “enemy alien” and so, along with other German Jews, he was interned in a camp in the Isle of Man. There he wrote \u003ci\u003eKing Winter’s Birthday\u003c\/i\u003e, which he called \u003ci\u003eA Fairy Tale\u003c\/i\u003e. The story was never published, and Boschwitz was tragically killed in an attack by a German submarine when he was being transported from Australia back to England.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis story of the four seasons and a demanding birthday boy lay undiscovered for decades – until now.","brand":"Jonathan Freedland","offers":[{"title":"Steerforth Press |  Hardback  |  2025-10-07","offer_id":46917446664447,"sku":"9781782694670","price":25.99,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0329\/9075\/7001\/files\/BNCImageAPI_d68ad13f-c936-484f-a0a6-91a9a2a0b464.jpg?v=1749048022","url":"https:\/\/riverbookshop.com\/products\/9781782694670","provider":"River Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}