David and the Phoenix
By Edward Ormondroyd
David moves to a new house at the base of some beautiful mountains. The next day, he decides to climb the hills rather than settle into the new house. Upon reaching the summit, he encounters the Phoenix. They are, at first, frightened of each other, as the Phoenix has been chased by a scientist for several weeks, and David has, of course, never seen anything like the Phoenix before.
The Phoenix is flattered by David’s attention, though, and decides to educate David about the legendary creatures in the world. David’s first adventure in the Phoenix curriculum involves seeing the Gryffins. They first meet a witch who goads the Phoenix into a race. They are captured by the arrogant Gryffons, who sentence the Phoenix to death for bringing humans into their magic world. They escape, and the Phoenix keeps his appointment with the witch. David returns home to meet the unpleasant scientist who is visiting his parents.
The two friends implement plans to avoid the scientist by finding some buried treasure with the help of a fierce but friendly sea monster and spending the gold coins on magic items to foil the scientist’s plot to capture the rare bird. While visiting the magical world to buy necessities, David has a brief adventure with a prankster. Leprechaun meets a cantankerous potion-selling hag and a faun. The Phoenix rescues David from remaining in this world for too long, which could absorb those not magical beings. The Phoenix and David sabotage the scientist’s equipment and frighten him into leaving town.
The old Phoenix celebrates his 500th birthday and soon reveals he must “bow to tradition” and build himself a pyre of cinnamon logs. David tearfully complies with his friend’s wishes, buying the necessary items from town. The Scientist shows up and follows David up the mountain trails. The Phoenix is reborn but, as a hatchling, does not yet comprehend its peril. David appeals to the young Phoenix, who dimly recognizes a friend and flies away to avoid capture. David watches as the old Phoenix’s feather changes from blue to gold.
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Edward Ormondroyd
Edward Ormondroyd (born 8 October 1925) is an American writer of children’s books.
Biography.
He is best known for David and the Phoenix, a fantasy novel. His time travel novel Time at the Top was filmed for television in 1999. Ormondroyd was born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Pennsylvania and Michigan before serving two years on a destroyer escort in World War II. He participated in the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. After the war, he attended the University of California at Berkeley, earning a Bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s in Library Science.
He lived in Berkeley for 25 years, working various jobs while writing children’s books. In 1970, he and his wife, Joan, moved from Berkeley to Newfield, a small town west of Ithaca, New York. In 2007, he was living in Trumansburg, New York. In September 2020, it was reported that after living in Trumansburg for 30 years, Ormondroyd and his wife had moved to California to be closer to family.
Edward Ormondroyd
