SuitabookSkellig
David Almond
- Reading
- Consider reading alongside the child, pausing after discoveries in the garage and after dreamlike scenes. It may help to acknowledge difficult feelings about illness, then allow the reader to decide what Skellig represents.
- Themes
- Care and friendship: Michael and Mina work together to help Skellig, while Michael is also distressed by his sister’s illness. The children’s shared care is presented as a meaningful response to vulnerability and isolation.
- Living with ambiguity: Skellig may be human, beast, bird or angel, and the story includes dreams and unusual encounters with owls. The uncertainty is sustained rather than resolved into one agreed explanation, inviting readers to tolerate multiple possibilities.
- Illness, fear and hope: Michael’s baby sister is seriously ill and receives hospital care, while the family’s move and renovation add to his unsettled circumstances. The book leaves its stance open to more than one reading.
- Worth knowing
- Give particular thought to the atmosphere rather than only the fantasy: the baby’s serious illness creates sustained medical anxiety, while Skellig’s decay, insects, animal remains and uncertain identity may feel unsettling.