A PICTURE book about Oxford’s patron saint has won a gold medal in the USA.

The Princess Who Hid in a Tree took top prize in the picture book section at this year’s Illumination Awards for Christian publishing.

Written by Christ Church Cathedral education officer Jackie Holderness and illustrated by Alan Marks, the book tells the story of St Frideswide.

Oxford Mail:

According to one of the legends which the book embellishes, the Anglo-Saxon princess hid in a tree in some woods near Oxford after Mercian King Algar tried to abduct her to be his wife.

Ms Holderness said she had no idea that the Bodleian Library – the book’s publisher – had submitted it for the awards and said she was ‘amazed’ it had won.

The book has been donated to every Oxfordshire Primary School, together with a teaching pack of related resources.