Skellig
On sale
19th March 2009
Price: £7.99
CILIP Carnegie Medal, 1998
When a move to a new house coincides with his baby sister’s illness, Michael’s world seems suddenly lonely and uncertain.
Then, one Sunday afternoon, he stumbles into the old, ramshackle garage of his new home, and finds something magical. A strange creature – part owl, part angel, a being who needs Michael’s help if he is to survive. With his new friend Mina, Michael nourishes Skellig back to health, while his baby sister languishes in the hospital.
But Skellig is far more than he at first appears, and as he helps Michael breathe life into his tiny sister, Michael’s world changes forever . . .
Skellig won the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children’s Book Award and is now a major Sky1 feature film, starring Tim Roth and John Simm. David Almond is also winner of the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen award.
Then, one Sunday afternoon, he stumbles into the old, ramshackle garage of his new home, and finds something magical. A strange creature – part owl, part angel, a being who needs Michael’s help if he is to survive. With his new friend Mina, Michael nourishes Skellig back to health, while his baby sister languishes in the hospital.
But Skellig is far more than he at first appears, and as he helps Michael breathe life into his tiny sister, Michael’s world changes forever . . .
Skellig won the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children’s Book Award and is now a major Sky1 feature film, starring Tim Roth and John Simm. David Almond is also winner of the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen award.
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Reviews
Deservedly popular
Hard to put down
'it's a wonderfully original and beautifully written story and, oddest of all for a children's book, it manages to address the unlikely theme of spirituality with beguiling delicacy.'
Humorous, heart-stopping and haunting...an emotional roller-coaster of a read with a cliff-hanger of a conclusion. Inspired and inspiring.
'A deep and lovely book'
A beautiful story which will enchant young and old alike
'A bookshelf essential.'
Lyrical, innovative and moving...unforgettably moving
The sort of children's book that makes adults find excuses to read more of them
'Truly original, mysterious and affecting . . . Almond treads with delicate certainty, and the result is something genuine and true'
Touched with a visionary intensity, this strange, hugely readable and life-affirming tale exercises every muscle of the imagination.
Voted Carnegie Medal's Number one Top Book of the past 70 years
Brings Magical Realism to working-class Northeast England
Refusing to read this book on the grounds that you are not a child makes as much sense as refusing to read crime fiction because you are not a criminal. A deep and lovely book.
The book I wish I'd written is Skellig by David Almond. Almond's book has a great sense of the mysterious; we are left with a sense of wonder. I wish that I had written it!
A stunning debut . . . An extraordinary book.
Lyrical, innovative and unforgettably moving.
This modern classic has been reissued in a beautiful 15th anniversary edition
A visionary story...a lyrical, magical kind of book which can be read on many different levels
A beautifully told modern fairytale.
A bookshelf essential.
A story full of heart and magic and big confusing emotions, elegantly told by a master craftsman. A perfect piece of art
A modern classic
Listed as on the of the 100 Best Children's Books Ever (Novels)
An exquisite book
'His characters are proper, complex portraits of children that don't succumb to the gender clichés prevalent in children's fiction.'
the most lyrical children's author now writing
An exquisitely crafted book with a mystical core
. . . gripping, beautiful and brilliantly written . . . Everyone is raving about this unforgettable book.
Powerful and moving
One of those books that you can't put down
'Tremendously innovative, highly original and very moving.'
I can't eat a chinese takeaway without thinking about this strange and beautiful book about an angel who seems to have lost his way.
Touched with a visionary intensity, this strange, hugely readable and life-affirming tale exercises every muscle of the imagination