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Nicola Davies is an award-winning author whose many books for children include Ice Bear, Big Blue Whale and King of the Sky . She is a Zoology graduate, an expert in whales and bats, and has worked for the BBC Natural History Unit. She lives in Powys
Read more about Nicola Davies here.
Please note there are two children's authors called Nicola Davies which our systems are unable to tell apart. The books Star in the Custard, Shampoo and Seawater, and Stories from Abergele Street are not written by this Nicola Davies. Apologies.
The Song That Sings Us is a dystopian novel with a difference. In the society Nicola Davies describes, a powerful, ruthless government is bent on destroying nature, but in this world some humans have always been able to understand animal thoughts. Imagine how different the world would be if we could listen to animal voices? No wonder the governing Automators want to destroy anyone who has this gift. At the centre of the story are three young people, siblings Harlon and twins Xeno and Ash; forced to flee their home when the Automators attack, leaving their ma alone to fight them off, the book follows their separate journeys, into a world of wild landscapes and even the heart of their enemy’s empire. Along the way, they are helped by desperate resistance fighters, and by animals themselves. Epic in scale, this adventure is full of fights, danger, near-misses and escapes as well as friendship and laughter. Davies has poured heart and soul into the book and its effect on readers will be huge. Full of hope and a sense of the power of singing with one voice, the book looks beautiful too with striking illustrations by Jackie Morris on the cover and as chapter heads.
A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month June 2021 | In a spare, poetic text, Nicola Davies shows how easy it is to label someone as ‘different’ and how easy it is to treat them badly once that has been done. But she also shows how a new child can turn that hostility round by introducing the special things from her own life. Cathy Fisher’s illustrations capture the powerful but understated point of the story perfectly making this apparently quiet book speak volumes.
In a spare, poetic text, Nicola Davies shows how easy it is to label someone as ‘different’ and how easy it is to treat them badly once that has been done. But she also shows how a new child can turn that hostility round by introducing the special things from her own life. Cathy Fisher’s illustrations capture the powerful but understated point of the story perfectly making this apparently quiet book speak volumes.
Last evokes a longing for home from the reader and a sense of hope for the future upon its ending. In her debut as an illustrator, Nicole Davies effectively and beautifully portrays the differences in mood and surroundings between the rhinoceros' life before and during captivity through her effective use of colour.
Nicola Davies celebrates the forthcoming 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in this beautifully illustrated picture book. Using the metaphor of each child being a song, she explores some of the 54 rights it sets out, from the right to education, to freedom of thought and expression, to the rights of child refugees. Short, lyrical sentences of text will start discussion and conversation and Marc Martin’s rich water-colour illustrations, whether of children, scenes or vegetation, add movement and drama. A book to inspire children to think about the world and their place within it.
August 2019 Book of the Month | Nicola Davies celebrates the forthcoming 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in this beautifully illustrated picture book. Using the metaphor of each child being a song, she explores some of the 54 rights it sets out, from the right to education, to freedom of thought and expression, to the rights of child refugees. Short, lyrical sentences of text will start discussion and conversation and Marc Martin’s rich water-colour illustrations, whether of children, scenes or vegetation, add movement and drama. A book to inspire children to think about the world and their place within it.
Longlisted for the UKLA Book Awards 2020 | Shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2019 | Award-wining Nicola Davies has created a beautiful story which makes its powerful point brilliantly by focusing on the plight of a single child refugee. A little girl’s way of life - one that will be familiar to children around the world - is totally destroyed when the war comes. Having lost everything, alone and facing terrible danger, she travels across the world in search of a new home. But who will help her to find one? Nicola Davies never preaches, instead she allows her story and Rebecca Cobb’s equally sensitive and warm-hearted illustrations to carry the message with their own integrity and eloquence. The book is endorsed by Amnesty International.
Interest Age 8+ Reading Age 8 | A Julia Eccleshare Pick for November 2018 | Award-winning author Nicola Davies has a special talent for writing about the special bonds that can exist between children and animals. She also has a commitment to make sure that children of all kinds can find themselves in a story. In The Dog That Saved Christmas she brings the two strands together beautifully. The touching story tells of how Christmas is made happy for Jake by his friendship with a lost dog. For Jake, Christmas is not a time of fun but a time of huge anxiety as he copes with bright lights, loud noises and the unexpected behaviour of others and the changes in routines. But, when he finds a lost dog on the street, the two forge a very special bond. In the little dog Susan, Jake finds a companion who enables him to stay calm and to cope with the things he finds difficult. A beautiful story which is especially suitable for children finding reading stamina.
July 2018 Book of the Month | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month July 2018 | | A brilliant celebration and evocation of everything to do with the sea. The many, brief poems cover favourite holiday experiences including the excitement of being the first to see the sea, paddling, seagulls and building sandcastles; specific sea creatures such as sharks, limpets and the special fish which live on coral reefs; the drama of the seas in terms of shipwrecks and, more recently, terrible risk the sea is under from human waste. Both the poems and Emily Sutton’s illustrations to them will bring the very special qualities of the sea closer to everyone.
Shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2019 | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month June 2018 | Award-wining Nicola Davies has created a beautiful story which makes its powerful point brilliantly by focusing on the plight of a single child refugee. A little girl’s way of life - one that will be familiar to children around the world - is totally destroyed when the war comes. Having lost everything, alone and facing terrible danger, she travels across the world in search of a new home. But who will help her to find one? Nicola Davies never preaches, instead she allows her story and Rebecca Cobb’s equally sensitive and warm-hearted illustrations to carry the message with their own integrity and eloquence. The book is endorsed by Amnesty International.
Shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2017 | May 2017 Picture Book of the Month | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month May 2017 | | In a story full of hope against adversity, King of the Sky tells how flying a homing pigeon helps a young boy comes to terms with his life in a strange country far, far from home. Now living under grey skies in a country where he feels an outsider, a young boy misses the blue sky, warm sun and of ice cream of his home in Rome. But when he his racing pigeon returns to him safely from Rome the boy realises that home is where he is and he finds a new sense of belonging.
Shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2017 | May 2017 Picture Book of the Month | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month May 2017 | | Shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2018 | In a story full of hope against adversity, King of the Sky tells how flying a homing pigeon helps a young boy comes to terms with his life in a strange country far, far from home. Now living under grey skies in a country where he feels an outsider, a young boy misses the blue sky, warm sun and of ice cream of his home in Rome. But when he his racing pigeon returns to him safely from Rome the boy realises that home is where he is and he finds a new sense of belonging. ~ Julia Eccleshare
February 2018 Book of the Month | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month February 2018 | A stunning book that is also an invaluable introduction to how to look at the world around us. Nicola Davies invites readers to look at the flowers, the birds, the insects, the fishes and more in habitats of all kinds around the world. She shows the value of individual groups and also the importance of the how all aspects of nature are interconnected. Emily Sutton’s beautiful illustrations bring the natural world sharply into focus making it both delightful and accessible. ~ Julia Eccleshare Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month for February 2018 Kevin by Rob Biddulph My Name is Victoria by Lucy Worsley Lots: The Diversity of Life by Nicola Davies A Busy Day for Birds by Lucy Cousins Words and Your Heart by Kate Jane Neal The Iron Man by Ted Hughes Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram No More Kissing by Emma Chichester Clark
In a story full of hope against adversity, King of the Sky tells how flying a homing pigeon helps a young boy comes to terms with his life in a strange country far, far from home. Now living under grey skies in a country where he feels an outsider, a young boy misses the blue sky, warm sun and of ice cream of his home in Rome. But when he his racing pigeon returns to him safely from Rome the boy realises that home is where he is and he finds a new sense of belonging.
Shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2018 | In a story full of hope against adversity, King of the Sky tells how flying a homing pigeon helps a young boy comes to terms with his life in a strange country far, far from home. Now living under grey skies in a country where he feels an outsider, a young boy misses the blue sky, warm sun and of ice cream of his home in Rome. But when he his racing pigeon returns to him safely from Rome the boy realises that home is where he is and he finds a new sense of belonging. ~ Julia Eccleshare
A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month April 2017 | A stunning book that is also an invaluable introduction to how to look at the world around us. Nicola Davies invites readers to look at the flowers, the birds, the insects, the fishes and more in habitats of all kinds around the world. She shows the value of individual groups and also the importance of the how all aspects of nature are interconnected. Emily Sutton’s beautiful illustrations bring the natural world sharply into focus making it both delightful and accessible. ~ Julia Eccleshare Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month for April 2017 The Giant Jumperee by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury Grandapa Green by Lane Smith I'm Going to Eat This Ant by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros Lots: The Diversity of Life on Earth by Nicola Davies Mrs Mole, I'm Home! by Jarvis Silver by Walter de la Mare
In a lively, highly readable book Nicola Davies examines ways that man and animals interact, highlighting species whose intelligence and adaptability causes real problems for their human neighbours. Take the Kea for example: these super-smart birds cause no end of mischief in New Zealand, sometimes just for the fun of it; or macaque monkeys who damage crops, cables and peoples’ houses in India and seem easily able to outwit the humans trying to limit their activity. As well as showing them just how clever animals are, these fascinating stories will set children thinking about the effect mankind has on the natural world. The final chapter gives examples of humans and animals working together, which should start children thinking about better ways we can share the planet in the future. ~ Andrea Reece
Shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2018 | Longlisted for the UKLA 2018 Book Award | What a wonderful book to give to a child. It’s one which will inspire a real interest in nature and the creatures that share our planet, as well as an appreciation of art and poetry. Nicola Davies shares her delight in animals in specially written poems, each of which is illustrated by Petr Horacek across dazzling double pages. Grouped by themes such as colours and shapes, or animals in action, creatures big and small are vividly brought to life, from the whale shark, ‘like a piece of fallen starry sky’ to a barn owl, ‘quiet as the floating moon’. The images are breath-taking, full of movement and colour; the poems too are varied and memorable, sometimes precise, sometimes ethereal. It’s a book that recipients will treasure into adulthood.
Longlisted for the 2015 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal This is simply an outstanding book. Nicola Davies and Emily Sutton explain the life and purpose of microbes clearly and lucidly for very young children, through simple language and beautiful illustrations. Using child-friendly examples, such as the fact that a teaspoon of soil can have as many microbes as the number of people in the whole of India, and striking visual images, they make this important and complex area clear for even pre-school children. Microbes, the book concludes, are the invisible transformers of our world. The tiniest lives doing the biggest jobs. Tiny makes these tiny things as beautiful and fascinating to children as a blue whale. ~ Andrea Reece
Shortlisted for the 2015 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal The Promise is a story with a strong green message - about the power we have to transform our world - and features breathtaking design and illustration. A perfect book to share with young children. It is also a story of a magical discovery that will touch the heart and imagination of every reader, young and old. With poignant simplicity, honesty and lyricism, Nicola Davies evokes a powerful vision of a world where people and nature live in harmony. And Laura Carlin's delicate illustrations capture a young girl's journey from a harsh, urban reality to the beauty and vitality of a changed world. It is moving, touching, unforgettable. It received a BolognaRagazzi Award Special Mention in 2014 & was shortlisted for The Little Rebels Children's Book Award 2014.
Longlisted for the 2015 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal This exciting non-fiction picture book introduces young readers to the wondrous (and invisible) world of microbes.
Winner of the IBW Children's Picture Book Award 2014 A beautiful book which brings nature to life in words and pictures. Nicola Davies interweaves fact and fiction as she brings each season into focus. She celebrates new growth and the rich harvests of autumn. Stunning, richly textured illustrations encourage young readers to look closely at the world around them.
Shortlisted for The Little Rebels Children's Book Award 2014. This is a picture books of great beauty and hope about the power we have to transform our world. The Promise is the story of a magical discovery that will touch the heart and imagination of every reader, young and old. With poignant simplicity, honesty and lyricism, Nicola Davies evokes a powerful vision of a world where people and nature live in harmony. And Laura Carlin's delicate illustrations capture a young girl's journey from a harsh, urban reality to the beauty and vitality of a changed world.
Out fishing with her father Manuela is excited when they come across a manatee. Killing a manatee requires great skill; if she and her father can bring one home there will be plenty for everyone to eat. But when she sees the orphaned baby manatee has been injured in the attack on its parent, Manuela just wants the baby to survive. Manuela promises that she will return the baby to the river one day. But can she keep her promise? Nicola Davies reflects the terrible dangers for manatees from human predators.
Nicola Davies’s non-fiction stories are renowned for their skilful combination of great drama and important messages about conservation. Zaki’s family have always kept a performing bear and made money from showing her off. Zaki has two bear cubs he can train to dance but now the government is trying to stamp out the practice which is cruel to the bears and reducing the number of sloth bears surviving in the wild. Zaki decides to return his bear cubs to the wild but it isn’t possible for the young bears to manage on their own in the wild. A touching story about the relationship between a boy and his bear cubs.
Shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2013 All the information you could want for a young reader is beautifully on display in this attractive picture book. Lovely pictures show delightful ducks down by the river while the useful text explains why some ducks quack louder than others, what ducks eat and how you tell a male duck from a female duck.
Shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book of the Year 2014 - Best Story Michael, a young boy growing up on the tropical island of Rose Town, has been saving up for his own fishing boat for years. But when a terrible storm wrecks his home, Michael is forced to take a job working for a rich, mysterious newcomer named Spargo. Spargo asks Michael to search for one thing in the deep waters around Rose Town - whales...
Fact and fiction are cleverly interwoven in this thoughtful story which balances up the needs of people and animals to share space safely. Pedro looses most of his right arm when a lion savages him one night. He broods on his lion and hopes for the strength to kill it one day. But, as he heals, and encouraged by thoughtful advice from his father, Pedro learns that the most important thing it to keep both lions and humans safe - and able to live together.
An exciting story which is also based on the truth about how elephants behave and the difficulties of elephants and humans sharing land. Wilen loves the elephants who live near to his home but, elephants are very big and very dangerous, which means that everyone in his village is scared when they wander too close to the houses or crops. Wilen is determined to find a way of keeping the people safe – and the elephants happy! Nicola Davies brings a way of life deep in the forests of India vividly to life.
Winner of The English Association 2013 Prize (Non-Fiction 4-7) A beautiful book which brings nature to life in words and pictures. Nicola Davies interweaves fact and fiction as she brings each season into focus. She celebrates new growth and the rich harvests of autumn. Stunning, richly textured illustrations encourage young readers to look closely at the world around them.
This is a spirit-soaring tale of adventure, friendship and belonging that will appeal to all lovers of books by Michael Morpurgo and Roald Dahl.
Silver Street Farm is facing big problems in the long hot summer. Animals are very thirsty and the water bill is very large…What can the children do to make sure the animals have enough to drink and keep cool? Their solution is an exciting one! Other titles in the series include Welcome to Silver Street, Escape from Silver Street Farm and Spring Fever at Silver Street Farm.
Setting up Silver Street Farm is one thing, keeping all the animals under control all of the time is another! When Kenny the Ram decides that outside the fence is nicer than inside it there seems to be no way of stopping him! The farm children have their hands full as they struggle to keep their animals in one place! Other titles in the series include Welcome to Silver Street, All Aboard at Silver Street Farm and Spring Fever at silver Street Farm.
There’s loads of new life on Silver Street Farm as the pig, the goats and the sheep are all pregnant! Can the children manage the pressure! The results are exciting and the all the new babies are perfectly sweet – even if they are a bit of a handful! Other titles in the series include Welcome to Silver Street, All Aboard at Silver Street Farm and Escape from Silver Street.
Humorously told and full of facts about animals, the ups and downs of the new city farm make a great story. Three children and an unusual selection of animals for a farm – including poodle puppies who have some very unusual characteristics and some ducklings – are enough to start. Helped by local press and the neighbours Silver Street Farm comes vividly to life.This is the first in a charming series of fun-filled animal adventures on Silver Street Farm. Other titles in the series include All Aboard at Silver Street Farm , Escape from Silver Street Farm and Spring Fever at silver Street Farm.
This is a book about climate change like no other - a collaboration between the inventor of Gaia Theory and an award-winning non-fiction writer for children - that explains the science and answers the commonly-asked questions about global warming. The style is simple, the explanations utterly brilliant, illuminating the hard facts as well as the potential solutions from scientists all over the world. This book is a call to arms, Kids today are the future, so find out how to live differently, change minds and have fun doing it.
Shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award 2006. Set in a far off future, Home is a powerful science fiction story which asks readers to take a fresh look at Earth and to consider what belonging somewhere means and why it matters. Sacks’ safe, secure life is turned upside down when her Station is attacked and the only person she has ever known is killed. She has to set off on a journey into the unknown – to earth where Humans don’t belong. There’s no-one to help her and every breath might be toxic and life-threatening. Sack’s story of survival in this richly created, dysptopian futuristic landscape is gripping. (10+)
Some parents may be appalled that a title such as this has been shortlisted for a prestigious award but the award in question is the Blue Peter award, which, not surprisingly is chosen by children. Talk about taking a subject head on! Orang-utans have the smelliest, Bumble be bats the smallest and Mayflies just don’t! This fantastic little book will get even the most reluctant reader enjoying the delights of reading as it lifts the lid on the secret world of faeces and in so doing gives the reader an incredibly enlightening journey involving Human and animal biology. I can guarantee it will be one of the most read (or requested) books on your home book shelf!
Our skies are full of life! From bats and birds to bees and beetles, the air around us is buzzing with amazing flying creatures. Explore how and why animals fly, and the many ways in which this incredible ability has helped them flourish on our beautiful planet, in this beautiful book from award-winning non-fiction specialist Nicola Davies. Packed with fascinating facts and incredible illustrations to pore over again and again, this stunning large-format hardback is the perfect gift to inspire children to treasure our planet's precious biodiversity.
An ultimately inspiring story of how giraffes have dealt with modern climate change, beautifully told and illustrated - and marking the launch of an exciting new series. Once, this season of rains was the season of giraffes... In this powerful picture-book, bestselling children's author Nicola Davies writes in collaboration with conservationist Kisilu Musya to explain how one of the world's best-loved animals has dealt with the challenges of climate change. Giraffes were once a part of daily life in Niger - but after severe droughts one year, when the rains eventually return, the giraffes are nowhere to be seen. However, as award-winning artist Emily Sutton's magnificent illustrations capture, The Beauty of Giraffes ultimately has a hopeful, celebratory story to share ... and an important point to make about how human beings can change for the better. Nicola Davies is one of the best children's writers in the business. Huffington Post Emily Sutton is one of our greatest children's illustrators. The Times
Nicola Davies and Jenni Desmond's first collaboration: a spectacular tour of Planet Earth and a powerful rallying cry. Where on Earth are you, right now? It's late where I am and almost everyone's asleep, but I'm awake, looking out into the night. Wondering... As the clock strikes midnight, a little girl and her sister visit animals of every shape and size, all around the world - discovering that, in some places, creatures have just started their day, where in others they're already busy hunting for food. Turning the popular concept of time-zones on its head and combining it with a powerful climate message and delightful illustrations, this book is narrative non-fiction at its most spellbinding. Nicola Davies is one of the best children's writers in the business. Huffington Post Jenni Desmond knows just how to make children's precious imaginations soar. Guardian
The Song That Sings Us is a dystopian novel with a difference. In the society Nicola Davies describes, a powerful, ruthless government is bent on destroying nature, but in this world some humans have always been able to understand animal thoughts. Imagine how different the world would be if we could listen to animal voices? No wonder the governing Automators want to destroy anyone who has this gift. At the centre of the story are three young people, siblings Harlon and twins Xeno and Ash; forced to flee their home when the Automators attack, leaving their ma alone to fight them off, the book follows their separate journeys, into a world of wild landscapes and even the heart of their enemy’s empire. Along the way, they are helped by desperate resistance fighters, and by animals themselves. Epic in scale, this adventure is full of fights, danger, near-misses and escapes as well as friendship and laughter. Davies has poured heart and soul into the book and its effect on readers will be huge. Full of hope and a sense of the power of singing with one voice, the book looks beautiful too with striking illustrations by Jackie Morris on the cover and as chapter heads.
A heartfelt story from the author of King of the Sky, The Day War Came and The Promise, with an important point to make about male mental health. Javier has a secret. On one of his father's fishing trips, he finds an albatross caught on the hooks - alive, if only barely. Against his father's orders, Javier smuggles the bird to safety and begins nursing it back to health. Every day the albatross accepts a little more food, but she shows no sign of wanting to use her wings. And if Javier's new friend refuses to fly, how will she ever find her way home? With words by award-winning author Nicola Davies and dramatic watercolours by Salvatore Rubbino, this is a beautiful story about the power of empathy. Nicola Davies is one of the best children's writers in the business. Huffington Post
From the award-winning team behind Tiny and Lots comes a new book exploring another fascinating area of biology: growth. Vibrantly illustrated, this is a fascinating and accessible introduction to the concept of DNA for five- to eight-year-olds Guardian A beautifully illustrated introduction to the concept of DNA for younger readers. All living things grow - every plant and every animal, including human beings. Some things grow fast and others grow slowly; some things grow by tiny degrees, while others grow to be enormous. Yet there's something about the way we grow that links us all together. Ever since you were the size of a dot, your body has been following a set of instructions: a code, which connects you with every creature on the planet... With words from Nicola Davies and exquisite artwork by Emily Sutton, this groundbreaking book is certain to enchant and inspire children. Explaining the concept of DNA to young children sounds an impossible task but this book succeeds beautifully. Sunday Express
A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month June 2021 | In a spare, poetic text, Nicola Davies shows how easy it is to label someone as ‘different’ and how easy it is to treat them badly once that has been done. But she also shows how a new child can turn that hostility round by introducing the special things from her own life. Cathy Fisher’s illustrations capture the powerful but understated point of the story perfectly making this apparently quiet book speak volumes.
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