In a poignant and lavishly illustrated storybook, two revered creators give wing to the ancient Irish tale of a wild child with a heart of gold. In lean times, a boy’s parents send him to a monastery to be cared for. After study and prayer, the monks let young Kevin run and play in the woods and fields. But the time comes when he must set aside childish ways. Shut in his lonely cell, yearning for home and the freedom of the outdoors, Kevin reaches through the window toward the light as two blackbirds land in and feather the nest of his hands. Kevin waits, day after day, for their eggs to hatch, and it’s not until the chicks spread tiny wings and fly off—three new wild things gone out into the world—that he can rest and the monks can see what they must do. In a moving first collaboration, a Hans Christian Andersen Award winner and a two-time Kate Greenaway Medal winner transform a traditional Irish tale—about the love of nature and the mercies of letting go—and make it soar.
Author
David Almond is a British children's writer who has penned several novels, each one to critical acclaim. He was born and raised in Felling and Newcastle in post-industrial North East England and educated at the University of East Anglia. When he was young, he found his love of writing when some short stories of his were published in a local magazine. He started out as an author of adult fiction before finding his niche writing literature for young adults. His first children's novel, Skellig (1998), set in Newcastle, won the Whitbread Children's Novel of the Year Award and also the Carnegie Medal. His subsequent novels are: Kit's Wilderness (1999), Heaven Eyes (2000), Secret Heart (2001), The Fire Eaters (2003) and Clay (2005). His first play aimed at adolescents, Wild Girl, Wild Boy, toured in 2001 and was published in 2002. His works are highly philosophical and thus appeal to children and adults alike. Recurring themes throughout include the complex relationships between apparent opposites (such as life and death, reality and fiction, past and future); forms of education; growing up and adapting to change; the nature of 'the self'. He has been greatly influenced by the works of the English Romantic poet William Blake. He is an author often suggested on National Curriculum reading lists in the United Kingdom and has attracted the attention of academics who specialise in the study of children's literature. Almond currently lives with his family in Northumberland, England. Awards: Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing (2010).
