Book Info

Children's Author 'Like-for-Like' recommendations

Synopsis

Kate, the Cat and the Moon by David Almond

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Reviews

ON KATE, THE CAT AND THE MOON: 1 Children's Book of the Week - Sunday Times 2 '... new and imaginative...' - Culture Section, The Sunday Times 3 'David Almond's poetic text barely tells a story; instead it provides a background for imaginations to soar. The dreamy world that he creates for Kate and the Cat to explore is made real in Stephen Lambert's painterly illustrations.' - Julia Eccleshare, The Guardian 4 '...one to savour.' - Julia Eccleshare, The Guardian
Seldom are we lucky enough to find a picture book which explores the night, dreams and magical transformations in quite such a satisfying way as this one
... It will be apparent that this is a complex and challenging picture book, but one that will repay many readings. Stephen's Lambert's illustrations are superb and full of life. -- The School Librarian 'One of the best of this year's new picture books.
The Irish Times 20041211 5 David Almond is a fine writer, one of the very finest we have. He is simply incapable of writing a bad sentence. In THE FIRE
-EATERS, his sense of place is unerring. Michael Morpurgo, Financial Times Magazine 6 David Almond's The Fire-Eaters is an exceptional novel. - Lesley Agnew, The Bookseller 7 'Once in a while a book comes along that takes over your head and your heart. David Almond's The Fire-Eaters is such a book ... The writing is lyrical and atmospheric and establishes a strong sense of place.' - Wendy Cooling, The Bookseller 8 'Almond makes familiar issues fresh; his characters are finely drawn and his depiction of place perfectly realised.' - Julia Eccleshare, The Guardian 9 SKELLIG: 'Gripping, beautifully and brilliantly written. Everyone is raving about this unforgettable book.' - The Sunday Times 10 KIT'S WILDERNESS: '...this superb piece of lyrically-written literary fiction captivates children and their parents alike.' - The Guardian 11 HEAVEN EYES: 'David Almond understands the joy and fear of being alive better than most - Heaven Eyes is a mysterious gift of a novel.' - The Times 12 SECRET HEART: 'This gripping book will enrich your soul and fire your imagination.' - The Daily Telegraph 20041211 'With words that move as smoothly as a cat in the night, this perfect, poetic picture book will stroke a child's imagination until it purrs.
Child Education 20050105
'Like the best picture books, it reads like poetry. Lambert's illustrations complement the lyrical trance-like state.'
the Glasgow Herald 20041211
'Will leave young readers spellbound.'
Books For Keeps 20051104
'Action floats freely ... Words and images are in a poetic and mesmeric partnership.'
TES Teacher 20050114
'A moonlit world of adventures ... younger readers will enjoy exploring the scene.'
Junior News and Mail 20051204
...beguiling text... inspired illustrations. -- Publishing News 20051204 'David Almond's first picture book Kate, the Cat and the Moon has a poetic text made of the stuff of dreams, given magical shape and solidity in Stephen Lambert's artwork.
The Children
's Bookseller 20050819 ...has a poetic text made the stuff of dreams, given magical shape and solidarity in Stephen Lambert's artwork - The Bookseller -- Bookseller 20050820 'Almond's simple, almost incantatory prose is beautifully illustrated by Stephen Lambert, whose landscapes are reminiscent of Hockney. A book for every child who has longed for the freedom to run wild.'
the observer 20050901

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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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