Puppet
A highly illustrated magical story to tug at your heartstrings from Carnegie Medal-winning author David Almond
Published on 3. July 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-1-5295-2370-6 (ISBN)
Description
From Hans Christian Andersen Medal-winning author David Almond comes a heartwarming story that shows anything is possible with imagination and trust.
What should a puppet master do when he's old and alone, and all his puppets are gone? Sylvester makes one last puppet. But this one is different. When the old man speaks to him, Puppet speaks back. And then he walks...
While Sylvester shows Puppet the town, the playground and the wonders the world holds, Puppet in turn helps Sylvester to make a new friend, and share his puppet-making skills with the next generation in this wonder-filled story of creation and the circle of life.
Illustrated with sequences of wordless spreads by an award-winning artist, this is a modern-day classic.
What should a puppet master do when he's old and alone, and all his puppets are gone? Sylvester makes one last puppet. But this one is different. When the old man speaks to him, Puppet speaks back. And then he walks...
While Sylvester shows Puppet the town, the playground and the wonders the world holds, Puppet in turn helps Sylvester to make a new friend, and share his puppet-making skills with the next generation in this wonder-filled story of creation and the circle of life.
Illustrated with sequences of wordless spreads by an award-winning artist, this is a modern-day classic.
Reviews / Votes
A magical, rittly-rattly tale... A gentler story that avoids whittling into the darker themes of Pinocchio to stay closer in tone to Pixar's Up. But thanks to Almond's idiosyncratic style it has the same creeping sense of a life hanging in the balance that makes Skellig such an electrifying read 26 years on... Lizzy Stewart's drawings are pitch-perfect, giving the story the feeling of having been as lovingly handcrafted as Silvester's green-eyed lad. -- Lucy Bannerman * Children's Book of the Week, The Times * I think it's simply wonderful. The language is so clean and beautiful. And I found the relationship between Sylvester and Kenneth/Puppet so pure and fragile it brought me to tears. CONGRATULATIONS to David on writing such a gorgeously hopeful book (despite the sadness in it). * Sarah Crossan * Just like a puppet-maker, David Almond can create a story from the world all around. He takes the simplest pieces of life and rebuilds them into something quite magical. Puppet is a masterpiece. * Katya Balen * "David Almond understands our needs for community. This theme, and his insights into community, is evident in all the wonderful books he has written over the years. In Puppet we too as readers feel the reassurance he has created within the story. As powerful as any he has written, poignant and heart-warming and telling. David Almond has excelled himself yet again." * Michael Morpurgo * Inspired by Pinocchio, David Almond has created another timeless classic... It's tender, very moving and the delicate black-and-white drawings reflect the joy and sadness at the beginning and end of lives. * Daily Mail *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
Children/juvenile
Interest Age: From 8 to 11 years
Dimensions
Height: 128 mm
Width: 197 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
216 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5295-2370-6 (9781529523706)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
David Almond OBE is the acclaimed author of many award-winning novels for children such as Skellig, Kit's Wilderness and My Name Is Mina, and has collaborated with artists such as Polly Dunbar, Dave McKean, Alex T. Smith and Oliver Jeffers on fiction for younger readers. David's books sell all over the world, and in 2011 he was the recipient of the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award. David lives in Northumberland; for more info visit www.davidalmond.com Lizzy Stewart is an illustrator and author currently based in London. She has written and illustrated three picture books for children and three illustrated books for adults.