A Lovereading4kids 'Great Read' you may have missed 2011 selection.
Shortlisted for the prestigious Sheffield Children's Book Award 2011
When 9 year old Noah runs away from his family, initially we don’t know why, but he finds himself in a strange, other worldly village with a toy shop run by a puppet-maker. As the story unfolds Noah reveals why he’s running away and the puppet-maker encourages him to return home. The toy shop is very special - both fascinating and sinister to Noah. It’s clear that the author’s imagination has run riot with all the peculiar goings-on at the toy shop including oranges that squeeze themselves, floorboards that jump around and a bell over the door not ringing in time with the door opening. Unlike his first novel for children, The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, this doesn’t have a sad ending but like that one it will be enjoyed by children of 7 or 8 upwards right through to adults. It has been beautifully illustrated by the great Oliver Jeffers (the first time Oliver has illustrated someone else’s writing rather than his own).
In Noah Barleywater Runs Away, bestselling author John Boyne explores the world of childhood and the adventures that we can all have there. Noah is running away from his problems, or at least that's what he thinks, the day he takes the untrodden path through the forest. When he comes across a very unusual toyshop and meets the even more unusual toymaker he's not sure what to expect. But the toymaker has a story to tell, a story full of adventure, and wonder and broken promises. And Noah travels with him on a journey that will change his life for ever. This is a thought-provoking fable for our modern world from the author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed Boy in the Striped Pyjamas .
John Boyne was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1971, and studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and creative writing at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, where he was awarded the Curtis Brown prize.
He has written a number of short stories; his first story, The Entertainments Jar, was shortlisted for the Hennessy Literary Award in Ireland.
His 2006 novel, The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, was made into an award-winning Miramax film. The novel itself won 2 Irish Book Awards, the Bisto Book of the Year, and was shortlisted or won a host of international awards. Amongst other accolades, it spent more than 80 weeks at no.1 in Ireland, topped the New York Times Bestseller List, and was the bestselling book in Spain in both 2007 and 2008. Worldwide, it has sold more than 5 million copies.
His novels are published in 46 languages.
His most recent novel was a children’s book, The Terrible Thing that happened to Barnaby Brocket, which was published in the UK in August 2012. A new novel for adults, This House is Haunted, will be published in July 2013.
