1st Edition, 1st Printing. 14.5 x 22 cm fawn cloth with red stamped vignette of a pack horse to the front cover. Blue map endpapers, (viii) 184pp with black line illustrations by the author. In original unclipped dust jacket priced at 11s 6d net. A square binding with firm corners and a little light spotting to the boards along the top edge. Internally, the book is very clean with a small neat ownership name to the top corner of the front free endpaper and a hint of spotting to the top edge. The dust jacket is generally quite clean with toning to the spine, a little dust staining and some marking (possibly from tape burn) to back panel. There is some rubbing to the spine tips and corners with minor loss and old paper reinforcement on the verso of the jacket on the spine tips and front fore edge corners to prevent further damage (image available). It presents very well in its removable, protective, clear cover (not shown). All in all a very nice 1st Edition copy of this Carnegie Medal winning book for Excellence in children’s fiction.