Skellig by David Almond

Skellig by David Almond has been sitting on my shelves since I deserted my MA in Children's Literature and I've just read it for the first time. Isn't it strange how these wondrous reads can have been sitting neglected and unloved for so long and my thanks to Ann over on Patternings who is flagging up so many fantastic children's books to be savoured.
It's hard to know where to start with Skellig and I'm in agreement with Ann, to dissect out any part just does the book a huge disservice so suffice to say,amongst other things, it's about a young boy's love for his baby sister who has been born prematurely.You just have to read it to benefit from the full embrace of some of the gentlest most moving writing around today in children's literature. It's a powerful book for all its measured and unusual events and I was on the brink of tears at one point in the book, but then young Michael's love for his sister can't fail to move you.Nor is it sentimental, far from it.
How I would love to have read this one as a child. I think great flights of imagination would have been the order of the day and it is a book that will stay with me now, but I feel sure it would have entered my canon of memorable childhood reads had it been around in the 1950's.
I have a good condition spare copy free to a good bloghome anywhere in the world if anyone would like it, just shout.It's a book that should be travelling around and far too greedy of me to have two copies sitting here.Perhaps it's time for BlogBookCrossing to be born, read it, write about it and send it onto another blogger.