David Almond - Children's Author

David Almond was our Guest Editor in September 2011 CLICK HERE to see his choices.

David Almond is twice winner of the Whitbread Children's Book Award. His first novel, SKELLIG, won the Whitbread Children's Award and the Carnegie Medal. His second, KIT'S WILDERNESS, won the Smarties Award Silver Medal, was Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal, and shortlisted for the Guardian Award. THE FIRE-EATERS won the Whitbread, the Smarties Gold Award and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. His latest novel, CLAY, was shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book award and the Carnegie Medal.

David is widely regarded as one of the most exciting and innovative children's authors writing today, and his books are bestsellers all over the world, with sales of over 1 million copies.
He lives with his family in Northumberland.

Julia Eccleshare on David Almond:

One of the best-loved and finest writers of today, David Almond made an immediate impact with Skellig, his first book. The moving story of a boy’s discovery of a strange creature in the shed which can be interpreted in many ways introduced some to the recurrent themes of David Almond’s writing. Infused with a touch of magic or the supernatural or ‘belief’, David Almond writes sensitively about the inner complexities of growing up. Much influenced by the landscape of Tyneside where he was brought up and still lives, David Almond’s books have a strong sense of place especially in titles such as Heaven’s Eyes, The Fire-Eater and Kit’s Wilderness. Although often clearly set in some particular time, there is a timeless quality to David Almond’s stories which give them enduring appeal.

A Note from the Author

"I grew up in a big extended Catholic family [in the north of England]. I listened to the stories and songs at family parties. I listened to the gossip that filled Dragone's coffee shop. I ran with my friends through the open spaces and the narrow lanes. We scared each other with ghost stories told in fragile tents on dark nights. We promised never-ending friendship and whispered of the amazing journeys we'd take together. I sat with my grandfather in his allotment, held tiny Easter chicks in my hands while he smoked his pipe and the factory sirens wailed and larks yelled high above. I trembled at the images presented to us in church, at the awful threats and glorious promises made by black-clad priests with Irish voices. I scribbled stories and stitched them into little books. I disliked school and loved the library, a little square building in which I dreamed that books with my name on them would stand one day on the shelves. Skellig, my first children's novel, came out of the blue, as if it had been waiting a long time to be told. It seemed to write itself. It took six months, was rapidly taken by Hodder Children's Books and has changed my life. By the time Skellig came out, I'd written my next children's novel, Kit's Wilderness. These books are suffused with the landscape and spirit of my own childhood. By looking back into the past, by re-imagining it and blending it with what I see around me now, I found a way to move forward and to become something that I am intensely happy to be: a writer for children."

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Featured Books, with extracts by David Almond

Mouse Bird Snake Wolf
David Almond
May 2013 Book of the Month  Award-winning David Almond is at his most lyrical and imaginative in this story of how three children fill up the gaps the gods have left when creating their world. First they create a mouse, a...
Featured in: 5+ readers | 7+ readers | Books of the Month
Format: Hardback - Released: 02/05/2013
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The Boy Who Swam with Piranhas
David Almond
Shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Awards 2013 - Best Story  Award-winning David Almond tells a deliciously funny and refreshingly original story of Stanley, a boy who takes off on a journey of enlightenment and discovery after his uncle,...
Featured in: 7+ readers | 9+ readers | Book Awards | Books for Boys | eBooks
Format: Hardback - Released: 06/09/2012
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Slog's Dad
David Almond
Shortlisted for the 2012 Kate Greenaway Medal.  The Judges said: The different illustrative styles expand the text and the book's message; they amplify the emotions, producing a powerful impact on the reader. McKean uses different media so skilfully, and in such...
Featured in: 7+ readers | 9+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 02/02/2012
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The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean
David Almond
Award-winning David Almond breaks new boundaries in his storytelling of this remarkable tale. Billy Dean is an innocent child surrounded by decay and threatened with an undefined violence. In his unique voice, he tells his own story of survival, and...
Featured in: 14+ readers | Books of the Month | eBooks
Format: Hardback - Released: 01/09/2011
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My Name is Mina
David Almond
Shortlisted for the 2012 Carnegie Medal. The Judges said: A wonderful celebration of words, language and creativity which completely nails the voice of Mina, its central character, and demonstrates a true stream of consciousness. Mina has much to teach us all...
Featured in: 11+ readers | 9+ readers | Book Awards | eBooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 01/09/2011
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Slog's Dad
David Almond
Award-winning author/ illustrator team David Almond and Dave McKean have followed up The Savage with an equally stunning new book told partly as a graphic novel and partly as a story. Full of the kind of mystery David Almond created...
Featured in: 7+ readers | 9+ readers | Books of the Month
Format: Hardback - Released: 06/09/2010
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My Name is Mina
David Almond
One of the 8 titles longlisted for the Guardian Children's Book Prize 2011. Shortlisted for the prestigious Sheffield Children's Book Award 2011. Mina was Michael's thoughtful, resourceful and spiky neighbour in David Almond's prizewinning Skellig. This is the story of her...
Featured in: 11+ readers | 9+ readers | Book Awards | eBooks
Format: Hardback - Released: 02/09/2010
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The Boy who climbed into the moon
David Almond
Author of the classic Skellig, and winner of the incredibly prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award, David Almond is a wholly original writer of magical and unusual stories that make anything and everything seem possible. Packed full of wonder and...
Featured in: 7+ readers | Books of the Month
Format: Hardback - Released: 05/04/2010
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The Savage
David Almond
Shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Award 2009. Visually stunning, this is also a spellbinding read, as the story a young boy writes develops a life of its own and begins to play a powerful role on reality. Encouraged to write about the difficult...
Featured in: 7+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 07/09/2009
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Jackdaw Summer
David Almond
In his exceptional, delicate writing, prize-winning author David Almond weaves together many strands which together give an intimate insight into the thinking of two boys growing up in his familiar Northumberland countryside. Against a background of fighter planes swooping overhead,...
Featured in: 14+ readers | Books of the Month | eBooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 07/05/2009
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Skellig - TV tie in edition
David Almond
This is a wonderfully eerie and magical story about believing in something extra special and why it may make a difference.  It’s full of happiness and sadness but ultimately it’s incredibly fulfilling. 'Touched with a visionary intensity, this strange life-affirming tale exercises every...
Featured in: 11+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 19/03/2009
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Jackdaw Summer
David Almond
In his exceptional, delicate writing, prize-winning author David Almond weaves together many strands which together give an intimate insight into the thinking of two boys growing up in his familiar Northumberland countryside. Against a background of fighter planes swooping overhead,...
Featured in: 11+ readers | eBooks
Format: Hardback - Released: 06/11/2008
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The Savage
David Almond
Shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Award 2009. Visually stunning this is also a spellbinding read, as the story a young boy writes develops a life of its own and begins to play a powerful role on reality. Encouraged to write...
Featured in: 7+ readers | Book Awards
Format: Hardback - Released: 07/04/2008
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Kit's Wilderness
David Almond
An absolutely delightful read.  Full of originality and lyrical writing that will take your breath away, and a brilliant evocation of time and place.  Almost faultless. Kit's Wilderness won the Smarties Award Silver Medal, was highly commended for the Carnegie Medal...
Featured in: 11+ readers | eBooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 17/01/2008
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Secret Heart
David Almond
Wonderfully magical and yet totally believable, Secret Heart will take you on an emotional journey that is both gripping and very enjoyable.   David Almond novels in order of publication: Skellig, Kit’s Wilderness, Heaven Eyes, Counting Stars, Secret Heart,...
Featured in: 11+ readers | eBooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 20/11/2007
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Counting Stars
David Almond
A superb collection of stories about family, growing up, love and loss, and the resilience of the human heart, inspired by the author's own life.  He tackles the themes common to his work - joy, darkness, love, death and identity...
Featured in: 11+ readers | eBooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 20/11/2007
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Heaven Eyes
David Almond
Heaven Eyes is yet another outstanding novel from an outstanding author.  The characters are beautifully drawn.  Full of passion, at times very sad but always pulling you to turn the page, it will bring tears to your eyes unless you're...
Featured in: 11+ readers | eBooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 01/11/2007
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Skellig
David Almond
A favourite of Michael Rosen: "Brings magical realism to working-class North-east England."  This is a wonderfully eerie and magical story about believing in something extra special and why it may make a difference.  It’s full of happiness and sadness but ultimately...
Featured in: 11+ readers | eBooks
Format: Paperback - Released: 19/04/2007
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Clay
David Almond
  Clay is a gripping, powerful, moving and unusual story which works on every level.  It is beautifully and plainly yet lyrically written, and comes straight from the heart of a multi-award winning novelist.   Shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award and...
Featured in: 11+ readers | eBooks
Format: Paperback (b Format) - Released: 01/06/2006
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Kate, the Cat and the Moon
David Almond
A magical, dreamy night-time adventure for a little girl and the cat she befriends in the moonlight. Together they take off into the sky, exploring the world of dreams, all of which is revealed in a wonderful, open-out double page...
Featured in: 3+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 15/09/2005
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The Fire Eaters
David Almond
Fire-eaters is a compelling and utterly absorbing read that will remind you of elements of Lord of the Flies - human cruelty and its exploitation.  As the story unfolds it will really pull at the strings.   David Almond novels in order...
Featured in: 11+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 15/04/2004
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