Skellig Study Guide

David Almond was raised in Felling, England, by his father, an engineering office manager, and his mother, a typist. Almond and his siblings attended St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy and grew up under Catholic values. Although Almond has noted that his childhood contained “much joy,” it was also marked by grief, as his father and sister passed away when Almond was quite young. From a young age, Almond wanted to become a writer, and he often made handmade books of his own stories. After attending the University of East Anglia and Newcastle Polytechnic, Almond became a teacher. Five years later, he joined an artists’ colony in Norfolk and began his career as a writer. After publishing two collections of stories, Almond published Skellig in 1998, which received international acclaim. Almond went on to write several more award-winning novels, including Kit’s Wilderness, The Fire Eaters, and Heaven Eyes. Almond is the recipient of the Carnegie Medal and Hans Christian Andersen awards, among others, for Skellig. Almond currently lives in Newcastle upon Tyne with his wife Julia and daughter Freya.

While Skellig doesn’t reference any specific historical events, the book uses the concept of homeschooling and a conscious awareness of nature to examine its broader animating themes. In the 1970s and 1980s, shortly before Skellig’s publication, homeschooling saw a rapid increase in popularity. In 1983 in the United States, the Homeschool Legal Defense Association was founded, officially sanctioning homeschooling as a viable way to educate one’s children. Skellig, in depicting the healing effects of paying attention to and caring for nature, also speaks to widespread feelings of environmental catastrophe in the 1970s that led to the “back-to-the-land” movement.

Like David Almond’s Skellig, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elizabeth Tova Bailey explores the profoundly healing effect of closely observing nature. October, October by Katya Balen has a similar focus on nature. The book follows a young girl who, like Skellig’s protagonist Michael, comes of age amid tumultuous circumstances. Similarly, the young protagonist of Michael Chabon’s Summerland copes with hardship through adventure and fantasy. Genki Kawamura’s If Cats Disappeared from the World explores themes of death and life, similarly to Skellig, through elements of magical realism. Other works that appeal to young adults through elements of magical realism include Bone Gap by Laura Ruby and Echoes of Grace by Guadalupe Garcia McCall.