Customer Reviews

Skellig (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(103)
4 star:		(56)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

As a reading specialist,I enjoy taking the time to read children's books as they are sometimes better than adult novels! Skellig was a remarkable,enchanting,spiritual journey with a young boy,Michael,going through a family trauma as well as trying to adjust to a new home. When he and his new neighbor,Mina,discover Skellig, the real page-turning begins. The mystery of Skellig's identity plays along with the increasing severity of Michael's baby sister's illness. It was difficult for me to put the book down because the author keeps you guessing what will happen next. Readers will become deeply involved with all the "happenings" towards the end.This is a novel I would recommend to kids in grades 6 and up.It would also be a great read- aloud for families as well. I hope David Almond writes another novel soon!

I'm 10 years old and I have read the book Skellig.I think that the people that rate these books should look at them differently.they might have think that Skellig should rank 4 1/2...but I don't.I think Skellig is a good book because it tells how us kids feel towards other people that have only some or no friends at all.It also shows that you should stand up for your friends and you should never give up on your hopes or your dreams to help other people and to take care of others other then your youself.So I hope that you listen to me because I think Skellig is great.

I loved this book for how it expanded my imagination, back to a dimension it had when I was a child. I shared it with two of my 10 year old students, and they were awed by it, asked for more like it. Loved it. It gives richness and helps define an interior world. If your child is a dreamer, introspective or has big questions about life, they are very likely to be moved by this book.

Michael hadn't really wanted to move to the creepy old house on Falconer Road, but his parents were determined to have more space for their growing family. The real estate agent had somehow convinced his parents that the old house was a real fixer upper and so Michael, instead of spending all day playing soccer with his friends, Leakey & Coot, was helping clear the garden and work on the house. He knew that his parents were really worried about his new baby sister, who was born early and was not doing very well. She was allowed to come home from the hospital, but had to return when she had trouble breathing. His mom and dad could think of nothing but the baby and Michael was left to his own devices.

His parents warned him not to go into the rickety old garage left standing on the property, but Michael couldn't resist exploring. What he found in the old garage astounded him - he found a kind of man in the corner. The man didn't seem to be able to carry on a normal conversation and Michael wasn't sure what to do, but he brought him food and tried to talk to him. Michael also made friends with Mina, the independent and free spirited girl who lived next door. Mina was different than anyone else that Michael had ever known and he wasn't sure that was necessarily a good thing. But Michael needed to know that he wasn't going crazy, so he showed the man to Mina. Between Mina and Michael, they were able to give Skellig, the strangely winged man, a new chance at life and to change their own lives forever.

This was a fascinating book. It is very different from most other children's books and did a superb job at conveying Michael's feelings of loneliness and alienation by the way that he described things in the story. It was interesting to get to know Michael as he progressed from being worried about how the move affected his life to worrying about his new baby sister and whether she would ever be able to come home. Skellig was a very different character and the reader never really does learn what or who he is. It is like real life in that way, mysteries are not always solved and life is colored in shades of gray. This is a great book for discussion with children or something that adults will enjoy reading on their own and thinking about.

We bought this book after reading a favorable review of it inthe New York Times Book Review. I was skeptical: for the most part,book reviews seem to get it wrong with respect to children's literature, believing that children most want gently-wrought, monosyllabic, dumbed-down stories. I read Skellig to my six-year-old daughter. We could not put it down. The man/angel, Skellig, is a character not often found in children's literature: he is gentle, plaintive, weird, human, ethereal and a little spooky all at once. Needless to say, we were both boo-hooing by the end. One word about the beginning: don't be put off by its rather formulaic start, i.e., new house, unfamiliar school, sick baby, dark garage. The amalgam of events, and especially the way David Almond presents them, makes Skellig one that should or should have received the Newberry.

While looking for a new novel to read aloud to a group of fifth grade students, I stumbled onto Skellig by David Almond. I expected a somewhat mysterious tale, and I wasn't disappointed. What I was totally unprepared for was the beauty and strange sweetness, the well-developed relationships between the characters, and the touching ending. I literally cried for two hours...ok, I cry easily, but I believe this to be one of the best novels I've read in a long time. As a read aloud, I'm not sure if my students are quite ready for Skellig. I'm going to pilot it this week and will report back when I've finished.

Skellig was a wonderful "read", it drew my 8 year old in (as well as his babysitter and myself) and we couldn't put it down. I was looking for a book to stretch the imagination again of an 8 year old whose brain had seized up on a diet of Pokemon and Goosebumps books and Skellig worked, thank you David Almond. A young boy, discovers a strange creature, Skellig, in an old garage when he moves house. The boys's baby sister is very ill and some how he feels the failing health of Skellig is tied up with that of his sister. He meets Min a home-schooled "free thinker" who helps him to rescue Skellig and to stretch his conventional way of thinking. Lots to think about in this book.

I LOVED this book it was great. When you read this book you just have to keep reading. I couldn't put it down after they have found "him." I read almost the whole book in 5 hours after that. At the beginning of the book it's boring. Just keep reading you will start to enjoy it soon. The only thing I didn't like about this book was that the ending was sort of cut off and you don't really know what happened to Micheal, Mina, or his sister. I would most likely recommend this to people who like mystries and have to want to keep reading even if some parts are boring. If you like to try to solve things that they don't tell you then this is the book for you.

Skellig is an extrodinary piece of literature. It is equally good for both adults and children. Skellig is beutifully written. It is extremely lyrical, almost like a very long poem. The plot is thin, but still, the detial makes this book impossible not to finish. Michael has just moved to a new house, with no friends, and on top of that, his family is in a really hard situation. Michaels new baby sister is sick, and they don't know whether she'll live. And Michaels new house is dilapidated and the "garage," as the real estate agent calls it, is so broken down that it's unsafe to go inside. Michaels house seems empty. He is very lonely.Michael however, goes in. He finds something, a creature like an angel, but not quite. Great book, maybe one of the best I've read. Definitely a must-have. Five stars!

Skellig is an exciting and extraordinary book. I think it's a remarkable novel full of faith, truth, and love. When I read it I was left with a good feeling inside. It also left me wondering about what Skellig really was. The book gives you the idea that he's an old, dirty man that lives in a garage at first, but changes as you read on. David Almond did a great job writing this book. He used good details when writing about Skellig. The book takes place in a small town. Michael just moved into a new yet dilapidated house that is pretty close to his old house. The new house is a mess, his parents are distracted, and his little sister is very ill. When he walked into his new garage he saw an old dusty room that can easyily colapse. He looks around and finds an old, dirty man sitting on a chest,Skellig. After that Michael coundn't stop thinking about him. He gets up each night thinking about him. Michael and his new friend Mina try to help him and make him strong again, but Skellig doesn't have the will to do it. To find out what happens to Skellig you'll have to read the book yourself.