Did you know
At lovereading4kids you can download and read an opening extract and an online review of books by Hilary Mckay and hundreds of other authors
Find a book
Categories
Monthly Featured
Click to buy book vouchers
Hilary Mckay
Hilary McKay won the Guardian Children's Award with her first novel, The Exiles. Her subsequent work has achieved similar recognition - The Exiles at Home won the Smarties Prize and Saffy's Angel won the Whitbread. A graduate of Botany and Zoology from St Andrews University, Hilary now writes full-time. She lives in Derbyshire with her husband and two children.
Q & A with Hilary Mckay
What is your earliest childhood memory?
Watching steam trains with my grandfather. He died before I was two years
old, so that is a very early memory.
If you could be any animal, what would it be and why?
Well, who could turn down the gift of flight? Or travel without luggage? Or a
life spent following the sun? Without doubt, I would be a swallow. I realise this
means a lifetime of eating flies, but I think it would be worth it.
What is your dream holiday destination?
I would start at the Sangre de Cristo mountains in New Mexico and travel South
through Central America, along the coast to Peru, then down through Chile
across to the Falklands and on to Antarctica, which I would circumnavigate.
Then I would travel North to New Zealand where I would spend a long time
warming up and then across to Australia. I would spend quite a long time in
Sydney and go up into the Blue Mountains (I might go sapphire hunting there)
and then to the Great Barrier Reef (of course).
That would be far enough for me.
What is your morning routine?
Alas, I do not have a morning routine.
If you could have one special talent, what would it be?
Singing, undoubtedly. That would make me the happiest. But I have a friend
whose talent is languages and I envy that one very much.
Likes: Millions of things! Books, cats, honey, letters from readers (hint, hint), real music, apples, swimming in cold water, chocolate coated ginger biscuits, trees.
Dislikes: Putting things away, litter, loud TV, hot rooms, being told what to think.
3 words that best descibe me: Untidy, happy, hopeful!
A Secret that not many people know: I am a VERY slow reader!
Featured Books, with extracts by Hilary Mckay
Hilary Mckay
Hilary McKay has a brilliant ear for family dialogue as well as a shrewd understanding of the passions of adolescence and a wickedly sure touch about the complex ins and outs of sibling relationships. Permanent Rose is one of the...
Format: Paperback - Released: 03/09/2009
Hilary Mckay
Written in a light and witty style the ongoing sagas of the Casson family remain a must for that nearly teenage market and this one sees Caddy falling in love and getting married but not to the person everyone thinks. McKay’s...
Format: Paperback - Released: 03/09/2009
Hilary Mckay
This is the 5th and final instalment about the Casson family which began with Saffy’s Angel. Forever Rose is both funny and touching. The author has a deft lightness of touch that teenagers all over will enjoy. Told over...
Format: Paperback - Released: 03/09/2009
Hilary Mckay
A new chapter to the story of Sara Crew has been cleverly crafted by Hilary McKay who picks up the threads at Miss Minchin’s after Sara has left and, in particular, the loneliness of Sara’s friend Ermengarde who is teased...
Format: Hardback - Released: 03/09/2009
Hilary Mckay
Funny and compelling with a thought-provoking ending that leaves the reader eager for more and of course there is more. This one stars Indigo, the only boy in the Casson family. Definitely a book to curl up with and enjoy...
Format: Paperback - Released: 03/09/2009
Hilary Mckay
Saffy's Angel really deserves the top honours. This heavenly little book tells the story of Cadmium, Saffron, Indigo and Rose, siblings who are each as colourful as their exotic names suggest. Saffy's Angel is written with a simple, understated elegance...
Format: Paperback - Released: 03/09/2009
Hilary Mckay
Winner of numerous prestigious book awards Hilary Mckay’s two humorous titles Amber Cat and Dog Friday will provide 7+ year olds with a really good fun read. In Dog Friday, things are not going well for Robin; new neighbours...
Format: Paperback - Released: 03/09/2009
Hilary Mckay
Winner of numerous prestigious book awards Hilary Mckay’s two humorous titles Amber Cat and Dog Friday will provide 7+ year olds with a really good fun read. In Amber Cat Robin, Dan and Sun Dance are off school with...
Format: Paperback - Released: 03/09/2009
Hilary Mckay
Interest age - 8 to12 with a reading age of 8 - A hugely entertaining story of boys’ friendships that will have you laughing out loud throughout most of it. Peter is sure that he is the most boring boy...
Format: Paperback - Released: 22/05/2008
Hilary Mckay
This is the 5th and final instalment about the Casson family which began with Saffy’s Angel. Forever Rose is both funny and touching. The author has a deft lightness of touch that teenagers all over will enjoy. Told over...
Format: Hardback - Released: 20/09/2007
Hilary Mckay
Best friends Charlie and Henry are busy planning the best sleep-over ever. They agree they’ll be no itching powder or super soakers. Instead, they’ll look for ghosts and have a midnight feast - but things don’t go according to plan....
Format: Paperback - Released: 02/04/2007
Hilary Mckay
Written in a light and witty style the ongoing sagas of the Casson family remain a must for that nearly teenage market and this one sees Caddy falling in love and getting married but not to the person everyone thinks. ...
Format: Hardback - Released: 21/09/2006
Books by Hilary Mckay
Hilary McKay
The perfect sequel to a timeless and much-loved classic.
Format: Hardback - Released: 03/09/2009
Hilary McKay, Serena Riglietti
A brand-new story that is full of warmth and humour, from the award-winning author of the Casson family stories, Hilary McKay.
Format: Hardback - Released: 17/05/2007
