October, October cover art

October, October

WINNER OF THE YOTO CARNEGIE MEDAL 2022

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October, October

By: Katya Balen, Angela Harding
Narrated by: Aysha Kala
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Bloomsbury presents October, October by Katya Balen, read by Aysha Kala.
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WINNER OF THE YOTO CARNEGIE MEDAL 2022
WINNER OF THE YOTO CARNEGIE SHADOWERS’ CHOICE AWARD 2022
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'A very special new addition to the shelf and deserves classic status' – The Times Children's Book of the Week
'A modern classic ... relevant, comforting and life-affirming' – Scotsman
'The perfect Autumn read' – Primary Teacher Bookshelf
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A classic in the making for anyone who ever longed to be WILD.

October and her dad live in the woods. They know the trees and the rocks and the lake and stars like best friends. They live in the woods and they are wild. And that's the way it is.

Until the year October turns eleven. That's the year October rescues a baby owl. It's the year Dad falls out of the biggest tree in their woods. The year the woman who calls herself October's mother comes back. The year everything changes.

Written in Katya Balen's heart-stoppingly beautiful style, this book is a feast for the senses. And, as October fights to find the space to be wild in the whirling chaos of the world beyond the woods, it is also a feast for the soul.©2020 Katya Balen (P)2020 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Animals Animals & Nature Fiction Growing Up Growing Up & Facts of Life Literature & Fiction Heartfelt
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Critic reviews

Katya Balen’s October, October is a very special new addition to the shelf and deserves classic status
Quite simply one of the most beautiful books I've ever read
October, October is fierce with a wild love. It draws you in to its heart, shakes you with a fury, wraps you in a spell of storytelling. In lyrical prose, Katya Balen gives us a modern day heroine filled with courage. I loved every page.
In October, October the greenwood meets the city. Wise and bright - I loved it.
The most wonderful, original treasure of a story
It's EXQUISITE. Read it. Wild yourself. Open your heart to it. Written with the pen of a poet and the soul of Mother Earth. Glorious. It's like nothing else I've ever read.
A modern classic ... relevant, comforting and life-affirming
This book feels like a secret treasure found in the woods … earthy and magic and beautiful. I want to buy a copy for everyone I know.
One of the most beautiful children’s books I’ve ever read
The world is not a simple place, and Balen draws a touching, spikey, sparky, dangerous, heartful portrait of a girl slowly learning that.
This is what language can do – tell a story that burns with intense, furious passion, and yet be so disciplined that one never doubts, not for one moment, the emotional truths driving it. This song of the wild and of our most profound human longings is deeply moving, deeply satisfying, and it's my children's book of the year.
One of my favourite books this year. Beautiful and uplifting, a powerful evocation of nature and wildness that I found both surprising and incredibly moving. Tears were shed! (Jo Boyles)
The perfect Autumn read - you can almost smell the damp leaves, crisp air and smoke from a distant bonfire ... It would be an ideal book to read alongside forest school sessions.
A timeless, lyrical treasure that sees a girl who’s at one with the wild struggle with the world beyond her woods ... An unforgettable story, an unforgettable heroine
Balen’s immensely touching, well-written story about the pleasures and perils of wildness combines a lush, autumnal sensibility with a perceptive story about a transitional phase in a young girl’s life.
This is a sensitive account of adjusting to change and the grief that comes with it
This is the beautifully told second novel of a remarkable new writer
I’ve also just been introduced to the first two stunning children’s books by Katya Balen, both published by Bloomsbury: The Space We’re In and October, October. If you have a middle-grader, or know one, or are one ... treat yourself (Daniel Hahn)
The theme of raising a wild bird is at the heart of Katya Balen’s October, October ... Only it’s about more than that: about the gap between life in the wild woods and in London, where October is saved by mudlarking, and friendship with a boy called Yusuf
All stars
Most relevant
A really beautiful story dripping with magic, wonder and realness. A perfect story for all ages.

Full of magic

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Shows diversity and beauty in the natural world - the lost ways humble simple and spectacular. Perfect reminder of our need to contact to nature.

October October

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The descriptions in this book are so beautiful! I think the narrator paired very well with this story. I thoroughly enjoyed this whilst having autumn walks and so have my children. beautiful story.

Simply Wonderful

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I thought that the book had an amazing story and I loved the description I also loved the plot 😁

Hello

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I put off buying this book for ages because I wanted to love it but was worried it might not be what I hoped! I shouldn’t have worried; it was beautifully written and I want to live ‘wild and free’ more than ever now!

Loved it!

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