"A master storyteller" - The Independent
Menu

A uniquely presented, touching tale of grief, solace and hope from a master of contemporary storytelling and a visionary artist. The reading age for the book is 8 years and above

Imagine you wrote a story and that story came true. This is exactly what happens to Blue Baker when he writes about a savage living alone in the woods near his home. After his dad’s death, Blue finds comfort in dreaming of a wild kid who survives on a diet of berries and the occasional hapless passer-by. But when the savage pays a night-time visit to the local bully, boundaries become blurred and Blue begins to wonder where he ends and the savage begins. Part novel, part graphic novel, this moving story features striking art from the award-winning Dave McKean.

‘An extremely touching and cleverly conceived story of how wounds can gradually heal and sadness fade.’ Irish Times

‘A grimacing, gersticulating embodiment of raw emotion.’ Kirkus Reviews

Multi-award-winning author David Almond brings us a joyfully life-affirming and fabulously fishy tale about one boy’s journey from anguish to joy.

Stanley Potts is just an ordinary boy, but when all the jobs in Fish Quay disappear his Uncle Ernie develops an extraordinary fascination with canning fish. Suddenly their home is filled with the sound of clanging machinery and the stench of mackerel, and Uncle Ernie’s obsession reaches such heights that he would even can Stan’s beloved goldfish! Stan, however, has his own destiny, which leads him – via a hook-a-duck stall – to Pancho Pirelli, the blue-caped madman who swims with piranhas. And as Stan delves into the waters, he finally discovers who he really can be.

‘Atmospheric, poetic, beautiful.’ Irish Times

‘Dahl meets J. K., flavored with a soupçon of Choose Your Own Adventure, but in the end, this novel is all pure, sweet Almond. As with most everything Almond writes, there is the story on paper and then all that churns over and around it. This is as much a meditation on chance, choice, and destiny, as it is a frolicsome tale of a boy who runs away for a circuslike life. Almond is one of the finest writers for young people working today, which makes anything he writes something to look forward to.’ Booklist, starred review

‘There’s no mistaking the hallmark Almond tenderness and the willingness to work with the common things in life, which animate the book from start to finish.’  Guardian

‘Out of the ordinary comes the extraordinary, and visuals and text merge together to tell a truly magnificent fishy tale.’ INIS Magazine

‘A life-affirming voyage of self discovery – with a fabulously fishy twist – from master storyteller David Almond.’ The Bookseller

A magnificent tale of crackpot notions and sky-high courage – from David Almond, the master of magical realism, with illustrations by the award-winning Polly Dunbar.

Paul believes that the moon is not the moon, but is a great hole in the sky. It’s one of many strange ideas that he’s never told anyone (at school he was told that he had no ideas at all), until he meets Molly, his irrepressible neighbour, who begins to convince him that his theory might just change the world. Helped by a very long ladder, some highly irregular characters, two rather worried parents and a great deal of community spirit, Paul takes to the sky. But his astonishing discovery there can’t keep him away for long – what is waiting for him back at home is turning out to be better than he’d ever imagined…

‘It combines a depth of understanding and vision with a consummate lightness of touch. The Boy Who Climbed Into the Moon is, quite simply, a modern classic.’ The Guardian.
‘A magnificent tale of crackpot notions and sky-high courage.’ The Bookseller Children’s Buyer’s Guide

‘It’s beautifully written and children will love the quirky characters like Clarence, a poodle who thinks he can fly.’ Bambino Goodies

Part story, part graphic novel – a tender slice of life and death from the creators of The Savage.

Do you believe there’s life after death? Slog does. He reckons that the scruffy bloke sitting outside the pork shop is his dad come back to visit him for one last time – just like he’d said he would, just before he died. Slog’s mate Davie isn’t convinced. But how does this man know everything Slog’s dad would know? Because Slog says it really is his dad, that’s how.

‘A very touching graphic novel.’ The Bookseller

‘This is every bit as powerful, as moving, as magical as The Savage…Almond and McKean have created something just as wonderful as The Savage, and Slog’s Dad is an incredible work.’ Forbidden Planet

‘This extraordinarily beautiful and sensitive book by the award-winning team of Almond and McKean almost defies description – it’s a stand-alone story with stunning graphics that expand the book’s heart-rendering message…Simply stunning.’ Daily Mail

Runner-up, National Short Story Prize.

Joe lives with his mother in Helmouth, a forgotten village crumbling on the edge of the suburbs. His days are spent trying to evade the demands of school and the taunts of the local bullies. Joe’s friend, Stanny, insists that Joe must toughen up, become a survivor – and he is adamant that a weekend in the wilderness with Stanny and his Uncle Joff will do the trick.

Into Joe’s unhappy world comes Hackenschmidt’s Circus, and with it the strangely familiar Corinna. She tells Joe, ‘In the circus there is a secret heart ‘ – a place of contained wildness where the barriers between the human and animal world are fluid. And indeed, Joe’s dreams are already stalked by a tiger, so real that his skin and its pelt begin to feel as one…

‘As readers will expect from David Almond, there’s a sense of inhabiting a strange, vivid world that exists alongside the familiar, and an evocation of wonder in everyday things as well as in the extraordinary. A powerful addition to his highly distinctive works.’ TES

‘This gripping book will enrich your soul and fire your imagination.‘ Daily Telegraph

‘His best book yet … As we have come to expect of Almond’s writing, the book has a dreamlike resonance. It is a story about love, persecution, freedom and the conflict between man and beast, perceived here as a battle between machismo and a female animalism.’ Literary Review

Join a father and daughter as they find their wings together and take to the skies in this funny, tender tale from the master of contemporary storytelling.

A warm and wonderfully wacky tale told with heart and hope by the Carnegie award winning author David Almond. Lizzie and Dad live in a rainy town in the north of England. It’s just the two of them, and Auntie Doreen, who pops round to check Lizzie’s spellings and tell Dad he’s daft – and make them nice hot dumplings. But today there’s something unusual going on: why is Dad building himself a pair of wings and studying the birds to see how they fly? The Great Human Bird Competition of course!

‘It’s a story about love and it gives the reader a wonderful sense of joy about what it means to be alive. You will have read nothing else quite like it.’ The Guardian

Almond aims at a younger audience than usual, but crafts a tale at least as emotionally complex as any of his heavier outings. A buoyant story in which “It doesn’t matter if we fly or if we fall. We’ve got each other. We’re doing it together. That’s all that matters.” Kirkus Reviews

The dream team of David Almond and Dave McKean bring us a complete story set in an incomplete world.

The gods have created a world – they’ve built mountains, a sea and a sky – and now their days are filled with long naps in the clouds (and tea and cake). That’s until Harry, Sue and Little Ben begin to fill the gaps of the world: with a mousy thing, a chirpy thing and a twisty legless thing. As the children’s ideas take shape, the power of their visions proves to be greater than they, or the gods, could ever have imagined.

‘A constant theme running through Almond’s extraordinary work is the power of the imagination, a wonderful thing but risky and dangerous. Here the children, not the gods, are the real makers, but can they live with what they make? Can they unmake it, or are wolves a part of our own nature?’ The Guardian

‘Genuinely thought-provoking fiction.’ Irish Times

‘Wild and alive, this visually extravagant fable of the marvel, power and active nature of the creative process howls at the moon.’ Kirkus Reviews

A poignant and powerful narrative about intolerance. When a German refugee moves to a small English town in the aftermath of World War II, he is an outsider. The gang decide to take Klaus under their wing, but their increasingly hateful pranks under the leadership of new lad Joe cause Klaus to question their actions. A powerful and emotive tale about standing up to bullies. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 12+

‘Once, in a shining night, while the moon looked down and the stars glittered in the endless sky, and all the house was lost in dreams… the little girl woke up and heard a cat. “Miaow,” called the cat. “Miaow.”‘

David Almond is known for his subtle and intelligent imagination. This, his first picture book, demonstrates his brilliance as a storyteller – as he weaves together the dreams of Kate, the girl and her family… on a single night of magic.

Joe has birthday money to spend, and decides a cute dog he’s seen in a pet shop window is the perfect purchase. For some reason, though, the pet shop owner is determined not to sell that particular dog … This wonderful story was written by Carnegie award-winning author David Almond, and brought to life with the illustrations of Ayesha Lopez.