Half a Creature from the Sea: A Life in Stories

David Almond

Sep 2014 · Bolinda · Narrated by Malcolm Hamilton

Audiobook

4 hr 39 min

Unabridged

Eligible

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About this audiobook

In this collection of short stories, David Almond takes a series of ordinary lives and makes them extraordinary. A poltergeist is causing havoc in Joe Quinn's house. Slog's dad comes back from the dead to pay his son a visit. God even makes an appearance at the bottom of Cathleen Kelly's garden. These are tales where the everyday becomes touched with magic and the challenges of childhood take on the quality of dreams. The eight stories gathered together in Half a Creature from the Sea are all set in the North East of England where the author grew up. His love of Tyneside oozes out of every page, and it is his familiarity with the region that makes his writing so powerfully personal. Each tale begins with an autobiographical introduction explaining how the stories came to be written. These illuminating additions offer a fascinating insight into the art of story telling.

About the author

David Almond is one of the most exciting children's authors writing today. His acclaimed books include Skellig, winner of the Whitbread Children's Award and the Carnegie Medal; Kit's Wilderness, winner of the Smarties Award Silver Medal, Highly Commended for the Carnegie Medal, and shortlisted for the Guardian Award; and The Fire-Eaters, winner of the Whitbread Award, the Smarties Gold Award and shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. He lives in Northumberland.

Malcolm Hamilton is an actor and theatre maker, and Co-director of Mufti Games. Malcolm Worked with theatre companies including Bristol Old Vic, Theatre Alibi, Tobacco Factory, Uninvited Guests, Gabblebabble, Stand + Stare, The Criterion, Visible Fictions and the Arches. He appeared as Bily deBurgh in Closer Each Day – the improvised soap opera at the Wardrobe. He is a regular narrator of audiobooks and is often found in a silly commercial.

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