Book Info

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Format

Paperback
80 pages

Author

David Almond
More books by David Almond

Author's Website

www.davidalmond.com/

Publisher

Walker Books Ltd

Suitable for Ages

Featured Books for 7+ readers

Publication date

7th September 2009

ISBN

9781406319859

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The Savage

David Almond

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Julia Eccleshare's comment:

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 things in his life, Blue Baker creates The Savage who has the power to step out from the pages and save him from his demons.

 

Lovereading comment:

Prize winning novelist David Almond has a rare ability to seamlessly blend magic and reality in stories. Teamed up with illustrator Dave McKean, the two have created a powerful, moving and original story told in words and pictures. Asked to write a story, Blue writes about the harsh realities of his own life including facing up to the Hopper, the town bully and coming to terms with his own grief. Emotionally raw, The Savage will touch a deep emotional chord with all readers. To view other titles by David Almond click here. 

 

What the Kate Greenaway Award judges said:

'McKean’s illustrations add immensely to David Almond’s prose, reflecting its quality via a subdued colour palette and a variety of styles and framing. The cover image is particularly powerful, and the whole an utterly contemporary but timeless book you can’t ignore.'

 

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award rewards the best in contemporary children's and young adult literature from all over the world. David Almond has been shortlisted for the award, the winner of which will be announced in March 2010.

Who is Julia Eccleshare ?

Synopsis

After his dad's death, Blue Baker finds comfort in dreaming of a wild kid who survives on a diet of berries and the occasional hapless passerby. 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.

Reviews

About The 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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