About the Author

David Almond is twice winner of the Whitbread Children's Book Award. His first novel, SKELLIG, won the Whitbread Children's Award and the Carnegie Medal.THE FIRE-EATERS won the Whitbread, the Smarties Gold Award and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. David is widely regarded as one of the most exciting and innovative children's authors writing today, and his books are bestsellers all over the world.

Reviews

ON KATE, THE CAT AND THE MOON: 1 Children's Book of the Week - Sunday Times 2 '... new and imaginative...' - Culture Section, The Sunday Times 3 'David Almond's poetic text barely tells a story; instead it provides a background for imaginations to soar. The dreamy world that he creates for Kate and the Cat to explore is made real in Stephen Lambert's painterly illustrations.' - Julia Eccleshare, The Guardian 4 '...one to savour.' - Julia Eccleshare, The Guardian ' Seldom are we lucky enough to find a picture book which explores the night, dreams and magical transformations in quite such a satisfying way as this one! It will be apparent that this is a complex and challenging picture book, but one that will repay many readings. Stephen's Lambert's illustrations are superb and full of life. -- The School Librarian 'One of the best of this year's new picture books.' -- The Irish Times 20041211 5 David Almond is a fine writer, one of the very finest we have. He is simply incapable of writing a bad sentence. In THE FIRE-EATERS, his sense of place is unerring. Michael Morpurgo, Financial Times Magazine 6 David Almond's The Fire-Eaters is an exceptional novel. - Lesley Agnew, The Bookseller 7 'Once in a while a book comes along that takes over your head and your heart. David Almond's The Fire-Eaters is such a book ... The writing is lyrical and atmospheric and establishes a strong sense of place.' - Wendy Cooling, The Bookseller 8 'Almond makes familiar issues fresh; his characters are finely drawn and his depiction of place perfectly realised.' - Julia Eccleshare, The Guardian 9 SKELLIG: 'Gripping, beautifully and brilliantly written. Everyone is raving about this unforgettable book.' - The Sunday Times 10 KIT'S WILDERNESS: '...this superb piece of lyrically-written literary fiction captivates children and their parents alike.' - The Guardian 11 HEAVEN EYES: 'David Almond understands the joy and fear of being alive better than most - Heaven Eyes is a mysterious gift of a novel.' - The Times 12 SECRET HEART: 'This gripping book will enrich your soul and fire your imagination.' - The Daily Telegraph 20041211 'With words that move as smoothly as a cat in the night, this perfect, poetic picture book will stroke a child's imagination until it purrs.' -- Child Education 20050105 'Like the best picture books, it reads like poetry. Lambert's illustrations complement the lyrical trance-like state.' -- the Glasgow Herald 20041211 'Will leave young readers spellbound.' -- Books For Keeps 20051104 'Action floats freely ... Words and images are in a poetic and mesmeric partnership.' -- TES Teacher 20050114 'A moonlit world of adventures ... younger readers will enjoy exploring the scene.' -- Junior News and Mail 20051204 ...beguiling text... inspired illustrations. -- Publishing News 20051204 'David Almond's first picture bookKate, the Cat and the Moonhas a poetic text made of the stuff of dreams, given magical shape and solidity in Stephen Lambert's artwork.' -- The Children's Bookseller 20050819 "...has a poetic text made the stuff of dreams, given magical shape and solidarity in Stephen Lambert's artwork" - The Bookseller -- Bookseller 20050820 'Almond's simple, almost incantatory prose is beautifully illustrated by Stephen Lambert, whose landscapes are reminiscent of Hockney. A book for every child who has longed for the freedom to run wild.' -- the observer 20050901

Almond (Skellig) ventures into the picture book genre with this small, lyric gem. "Once, in a shining night," the tale begins, as young Kate, summoned by a feline friend, becomes a cat herself. Lambert (Secrets in the Mist) depicts her transformation in the time it takes to run downstairs ("jump, jump, jump, jump!") with a quartet of time-lapse illustrations in a kind of windowpane view. The two cats pay a call on the moon, whose giant cat-face mirrors theirs ("It licked its tiny sharp teeth with its tiny rough tongue") and, in a full-bleed gatefold, Kate the cat and her companions fly over smaller figures of her Mum and Dad on a heart-shaped lake, and over her grandparents, captured in their youth, dancing in a curious, turreted plaza. It turns out the cats are drifting through Kate's family's dreams. The story ends with a deliciously eerie moment. "Next day the talk was all of dreams," states the text, as the family gathers for breakfast. " `I danced all night long with Grandpa at the Roxy!' `Did you dream, Kate?' `Meow,' " says the girl, with a hint of a smile. Lambert's paintings gracefully straddle the line between fantasy and reality. Fields of pink flowers and green plowed pastures under moonlit full, flossy clouds confer the feeling of both flying and dreaming. Ages 4-8. (Aug.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.