LoveReading4Kids Says
LoveReading4Kids Says
Longlisted for the UKLA Book Awards 2021 | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month September 2020
When Abi’s newly forged family moves to an eccentric new home which is totally covered in ivy, strange things begin to happen to her and to her step-brothers Louis and Max. With their parents either away or too busy to notice, Abi finds herself falling into the books she is reading – she can feel the damp of the sea and taste the salt on her fingers - while Louie tempts an unusual and dangerous animal companion into his bedroom from the ivy. Can Abi and Max help Louie get rid of his dangerous new friend and will things get back to normal when their parents come home? Hilary McKay’s storytelling is vivid; she makes magic seem real while also showing why believing in it is so important.
Julia Eccleshare M.B.E
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About
The Time of Green Magic Synopsis
From Costa Award-winner Hilary McKay comes The Time of Green Magic: a beautiful, spell-binding novel about family, magic, an old house and a mysterious visitor . . .
Abi and her two step-brothers, Max and Louis, find that strange things happen when they are alone in their eerie, ivy-covered new house. Abi, reading alone, finds herself tumbling deep into books, while Louis summons a startling guest through his bedroom window. Even Max has started to see shapes in the shadows . . .
Their busy parents see none of it - but Louis' secret visitor is growing too alarming to keep secret, and he finds he cannot manage without Max and Abi's help. Can they find out where the mysterious creature has come from - and how to get it back there?
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781529019247 |
| Publication date: |
20th August 2020 |
| Author: |
Hilary McKay |
| Publisher: |
Macmillan Children's Books |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
224 pages |
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Press Reviews
Hilary McKay Press Reviews
McKay leaves enticing ambiguity between the real and fantastical, creating an unassailable magic of her own in an incandescent portrait of family, friendship, and imagination. -- Publishers Weekly
Hilary McKay writes with a wry wit, warmth and just the right amount of now-characteristic whimsy -- Anne Fine, BookTrust Books of the Year, 2019
McKay is a superb writer -- Sally Morris - Daily Mail
Hilary McKay has a rare gift for novels about families and their interplay. -- LoveReading4Kids
McKay couples warmth and grace with wry humour like nobody else out there -- Katherine Rundell - The Guardian
Hilary McKay is one of the great writers of children's fiction -- Sarah Hughes - Independent
A bewitching tale about blended families and the power of books told with all the wisdom and heart you would expect. - Bookseller
Vivid, hilarious, and heartbreaking, Hilary McKay's radiant characters touch my heart like real people, friends and loved ones I know well. Possibly the finest writer of our time. -- Elizabeth Wein
Wise, funny and thoughtful, there are so many touching moments in this lovely book. - ReadingZone
This story of blended families and a house where books come to life would make a perfect Christmas present for any bookish nine- to 12-year-old. -- Sally Nichols - The Observer - Children's Books of the Year
Wise and kind and utterly heart-wrenching and full of characters you will give your whole heart to -- Anna James
The real pleasure of McKay's fiction lies in her eye for the everyday. There is always drama in her books, but she is too confident a writer to feel the need to shatter any teacups - and unusually for a children's author, many of her tales have no obvious villain. - The Telegraph - Best Books of the Year
A wonderful, sensitive depiction of the highs and lows experienced when trying to blend two families. - The Times - Children's Books of the Year
This is magic without whimsy, a story about secrets and the power of books, with enough edge-of-the-seat moments to keep you hugging a cushion. - Observer
The emotions of real families have always been [McKay's] forte, but in this evocative novel she makes something fantastical happen - Sunday Times
Praise for The Skylarks' War;
Picking up a book by Hilary McKay is like slipping on bed socks on a chilly night. She knows how to look after her readers by ensuring that her characters are interesting and loveable from the start . . . -- The Times, selected as Children's Book of the Year
Author
About Hilary McKay
Hilary McKay won the Costa Children's Book Award for The Skylarks' War, the Guardian Fiction Prize for The Exiles, and the Smarties and the Whitbread Award for The Exiles in Love and Saffy's Angel respectively. Hilary McKay's Fairy Tales was her first book with Macmillan Children's Books and is a critically acclaimed collection of clever retellings.
You can read her character Rose Casson's blog by clicking here - and Rose's tweets on the right hand side of this page.
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!
More About Hilary McKay
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