October, October

Katya Balens October, October is a very special new addition to the shelf and deserves classic status * Times Children's Book of the Week * Quite simply one of the most beautiful books I've ever read * Kiran Millwood Hargrave * October, October is fierce with a wild love. It draws you in to its heart, shakes you with a fury, wraps you in a spell of storytelling. In lyrical prose, Katya Balen gives us a modern day heroine filled with courage. I loved every page. * Jackie Morris * In October, October the greenwood meets the city. Wise and bright - I loved it. * Hilary McKay, author of The Skylarks' War * The most wonderful, original treasure of a story * Emma Carroll * It's EXQUISITE. Read it. Wild yourself. Open your heart to it. Written with the pen of a poet and the soul of Mother Earth. Glorious. It's like nothing else I've ever read. * Liz Hyder, award-winning author of Bearmouth * A modern classic ... relevant, comforting and life-affirming * Scotsman * This book feels like a secret treasure found in the woods earthy and magic and beautiful. I want to buy a copy for everyone I know. * Sophie Kirtley * One of the most beautiful childrens books Ive ever read * Natasha Farrant * The world is not a simple place, and Balen draws a touching, spikey, sparky, dangerous, heartful portrait of a girl slowly learning that. * A.F. Harrold * This is what language can do tell a story that burns with intense, furious passion, and yet be so disciplined that one never doubts, not for one moment, the emotional truths driving it. This song of the wild and of our most profound human longings is deeply moving, deeply satisfying, and it's my children's book of the year. * Kevin Crossley-Holland * One of my favourite books this year. Beautiful and uplifting, a powerful evocation of nature and wildness that I found both surprising and incredibly moving. Tears were shed! -- Jo Boyles * The Rocketship Bookshop * The perfect Autumn read - you can almost smell the damp leaves, crisp air and smoke from a distant bonfire ... It would be an ideal book to read alongside forest school sessions. * Primary Teacher Bookshelf * A timeless, lyrical treasure that sees a girl whos at one with the wild struggle with the world beyond her woods ... An unforgettable story, an unforgettable heroine * LoveReading4Kids * Balens immensely touching, well-written story about the pleasures and perils of wildness combines a lush, autumnal sensibility with a perceptive story about a transitional phase in a young girls life. * Booktrust * This is a sensitive account of adjusting to change and the grief that comes with it * CBI Mind Yourself 2020 Reading Guide * This is the beautifully told second novel of a remarkable new writer * Best childrens books of the year 2020, The Times {Saturday Review} * Ive also just been introduced to the first two stunning childrens books by Katya Balen, both published by Bloomsbury: The Space Were In and October, October. If you have a middle-grader, or know one, or are one ... treat yourself -- Daniel Hahn * Books of the Year, The Spectator * The theme of raising a wild bird is at the heart of Katya Balens October, October ... Only its about more than that: about the gap between life in the wild woods and in London, where October is saved by mudlarking, and friendship with a boy called Yusuf * Animal magic: childrens books for Christmas, The Spectator * Written in beautiful prose, it is a heartbreakingly tender story of growing up, childhood, finding your own space, learning to forgive and ultimately celebrating what it is in the human spirit that gives hope to us all * Dandelion * As soon as I had finished it, I wanted to go right back to the beginning and read it all over again * CLPE Staff Picks 2020 * October, October is one of those books which, as soon as I had finished it, I wanted to go right back to the beginning and read it all over again * Katie,

Katya Balen is an award-winning author of books for children. Katya's debut novel, The Space Were In, was published in 2019 and was highly commended for the Branford Boase Award. Her second, October, October, won the Yoto Carnegie Medal. Her third novel, The Light in Everything, was published in 2022. When shes not writing books, Katya likes to scroll through dog-rescue websites, bake, and attempt to keep all her house plants alive. She lives in London with her partner and their dogs Raffi and Mouse. Angela Harding is a fine artist specialising in nature and wildlife screen-prints as well as lino and vinyl cuts. Her beautiful prints appear in a huge range of galleries and have also been featured in Gardens Illustrated, BBC Countryfile and Country Living.