SKELLIG

Skellig is a 1998 children’s novel by David Almond. In 2007 it was selected by judges of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals as one of the ten most important children’s novels of the past 70 years.

10-year-old Michael moves to a new home with his parents. The house is rather old and needs a lot of work, and Michael’s baby sister is born with a heart condition, so his parents don’t have a lot of time for their son. One day Michael discovers a strange creature in the garden shed. The creature’s name is Skellig, and could be mistaken for an ordinary homeless person if it weren’t for the pair of wings on his back…

A feature length adaptation of Skellig, starring Oscar®-nominated actor Tim Roth in the title role and Bill Milner (Son of Rambow) as Michael, aired on Easter Sunday and turned out as a ratings hit for Sky1 with almost 1 million viewers tuning in. Good film adaptations of children’s literature are unfortunately quite rare because all too often adults are displayed as too stupid and children as too smart to be believable. But this one was actually pretty nicely done.

Skellig will be out on DVD on April 27 and is available from Amazon.co.uk.