Skellig Book

My daughter stands in front of her overflowing bookshelf, where her brothers put books they consider "for younger readers". What shall I read? She only has about eight books on a pile next to her bed, so it is definitely a question of existential importance...

She finds Skellig, takes it out, and I am secretly watching her, knowing she will be in for a rare treat!

This is a beautiful book, not only for children. Michael's life has been turned upside down by the serious illness of his baby sister. At the same time, the family has moved into a new house in desperate need of renovation. Tension builds as Michael and his parents worry. While on his own, Michael finds a strange creature in the garage that seems to be a sort of owl man or angel. The creature's name is Skellig and Michael finds strength through the effort he puts into saving his new friend from starvation. Mina, the girl next door, shares Michael's secret. Together they experience magic and hope and learn to accept that creatures like Skellig exist even if they have no rational explanation for it. The belief in Skellig is strongly linked to the hope that Michael's sister will survive. When she is out of danger, Skellig disappears.

If that was all there was to the story, it would just be another take on I-believe-in-fairies, with a somewhat scrawny, grumpy out-of-shape fairy.

But there is more to the book than that: the way the friendship between the two children develops. Mina shows Michael a whole new approach to learning and investigating the world through pictures and words, and that is what ultimately keeps him sane during the long hours of waiting for his dad to call from the hospital.

He is getting better and better at drawing, and he is introduced to the world of William Blake.
I actually felt the need to look up all the Blake quotations, and I really enjoyed having another go at Tyger, Tyger, for example.

If young adult fiction can give you a new experience of an old classic without being condescending and purely educational, that is a good thing indeed!

The poetry of Blake revived in a story of fear and hope and magic!

And the most important lesson of all, Michael laconically sums it up:

You get good at football by playing football, you get good at drawing by drawing.

What you need is not magic, but belief in and passion for the things you love as well as perseverance and patience to practice until you are good!

Recommended for those of you who remember the magic and fear of childhood!