The story of William Tell's daring took place eight hundred years ago and half way around the world. It has been told many times. But this book has all freshness and vigor of a first telling. And twelve-year old Watler Tell, son of the Swiss hero, Walter's little brother Rudi, their family and friends, seem as real as the people next door—and much more exciting.

Walter is the hero of this book. The famous author-artist team, Mary and Conrad Buff, with vivid words and pictures tell the story of how he stood in the marketplace of Altdorf balancing an apple on his head while the Austrian tyrant, Gessler, commanded Walter's father to take aim at the apple with his great crossbow. His father's arrest and escape, the exciting eve of the new year, 1292, when bonfires on peaks of the Alps heralded the revolt of the Swiss against the Austrians, are a part of this dramatic tale.

Conrad Buff's full-page, full-color illustrations and many black and white drawings give added life to the quickly moving story. The Apple and the Arrow is a book to be read and reread—to be treasured as a handsome, permanent possession.

From the dust jacket