Alone!

There once was a boy called Billy McGill
who lived by himself at the top of a hill.
He spent every day in his house all alone
for Billy McGill liked to be on his own. 

But life doesn't always turn out how you plan it…

Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2022!

One day Billy hears the squeak of a mouse – destroying his perfectly peaceful existence. So he gets a cat to catch the mouse. But the cat and the mouse make friends. So he gets a dog to chase the cat. But they all play together too. So then he gets a bear … then a tiger … and on it goes, until Billy's house is so filled with characters that he has to move out. Will he find that he still craves peace and quiet, or is it actually quite lovely to have company and friends?

The brilliant second book from Barry Falls is a laugh-out-loud tale of growing chaos, with a heart-warming message about how it's good to have friends.

Barry Falls is an illustrator, living in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He graduated from Ulster University in 2005 and works for a range of clients in publishing, design and advertising. His clients include The New York Times, Orange, Unicef, NSPCC and The Guardian. He has won multiple awards and lectures in illustration at Ulster University.