Book Info

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Synopsis

Counting Stars by David Almond

Tackles themes such as joy, darkness, love, death and identity with sensitivity and tenderness. This book presents a picture of growing up in a large Catholic family.

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Reviews

' ... a haunting and lyrical collection ... intimate and personal ... Full of emotion and sensitivity that are hard to match.'
The Bookseller A collection of linked short stories from David Almond, a writer whose work is challenging and stunning
. -- The Bookseller SKELLIG: 'Gripping, beautiful and brilliantly written ... everyone is raving about this unforgettable book.
Sunday Times KIT
'S WILDERNESS: ' ... this superb piece of lyrically-written fiction captivates teenagers and their parents alike.'
Guardian HEAVEN EYES:
' ... surprising, perfect and mysterious all at once ... Heaven Eyes is full of satisfyingly surprising beauty.'
The Times

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About The Author

David Almond was our Guest Editor in September 2011 CLICK HERE to see his choices.

March 2010 David Almond won The Hans Christian Andersen Award which is presented every other year to a living author and illustrator whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children's literature.

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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