October, October: WINNER OF THE YOTO CARNEGIE MEDAL 2022

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I must admit that I was attracted to this children’s novel by the illustrations and the lovely warm colours on the cover, however it is the story inside which is the really warming aspect of this little book. This book goes into depth about a little girl being completely on the outside of the ‘normal world’ and it has such a beautiful story on relationships with family, making friends and also nature. The critics are describing it as a future classic and our young reviewer certainly agrees that it is an amazing book that has been published by Bloomsbury. It was such a pleasure to meet you both, and I really appreciated how smoothly and professionally you ran everything.

However, October’s relationship with her mother leaves much to be desired and missing not only her father but also her pet owl, which has now had to be housed at a bird sanctuary, October struggles to cope with the changes in her life. The world is not a simple place, and Balen draws a touching, spikey, sparky, dangerous, heartful portrait of a girl slowly learning that. It’s fun to find out how October describes each thing that is normal to our everyday life, like how she describes terrace houses as house sandwiches.She has pushed her mother away all her life, however when she climbs away from her on a birthday visit, October's Dad follows her up the tree and falls. A lovely story about family, friendship, growing up and learning to get along with those around us, Katya Balen’s story is one I very much enjoyed.

October, October is a book about being wild, about family and friendship, about the forest and the stars, about campfires and the hooting of a very special owl.Yourself and Bob are much cherished in our booky world and I personally really appreciate everything that you do. I adore the character development and characters in general, like how October gradually learns to love her mother and her father, as well as the fact that she learns you just have to let some things go.