Silverwing

A beautiful story about ten-year-old Douglas who has recently lost his mother to cancer. The boy and his father haven't been able to communicate since her death, and the house is a place of sadness. One day, Douglas finds an injured Greylag goose and so begins their mission to nurse the bird, and themselves, back to health. As father and son work together and start talking again, they discover much more about Douglas' mother than they ever knew before and connect with each other on a deeper level. This story deals with bereavement, school bullies, father-son connection, and the enormously healing power of nature and art. Illustrated with gorgeous drawings throughout, this is a story that will stay with you even after you close the book.

Kenneth Steven grew up in Highland Perthshire, but also lived in different parts of Norway (and has translated several books from Norwegian). As well as being a writer of fiction and poetry for adults and children, he makes many programmes for BBC Radio; his feature on St Kilda won a Sony in 2006. He recent collection of poetry, A Song among the Stones, was published by Polygon (2012).