The Crowstarver by Dick King-Smith

Dick King-Smith has published over 100 books, and still he comes up with the goods. The Crowstarver tells the story of Spider, a foundling brought up by a childless shepherd and his wife in Gloucestershire in the days before the second world war. This is King-Smith in a more sombre and reflective mood than usual, but his love of the land and the people who work it is strong and deep.

Young Spider is different from other boys; he's handicapped both mentally and physically. But he has a marvellous affinity with animals of every sort. A crowstarver is someone who scares crows away from the growing corn, and Spider is the best crowstarver there ever was; and in his understanding and love of all animals, even the croaks, as he calls them, he finds fulfilment.

There's a warmth in this book, a profound understanding of the cycle of birth and death, and a wisdom that knows that big things like joy and wonder are often found in little things like robins and Liquorice Allsorts and penknives. Philip Pullman

Like many another tale set in the pre-war rural world of the English countryside, The Crowstarver tells about a close-knit farming community and the ways of animals and birds. But this is a story of country life with a difference. Joy comes to a childless shepherd and his wife when a baby found lying in the straw of a sheep pen becomes their very own child. As he grows up it becomes clear that Spider is not "normal". Although he can't think or speak like other children, he can understand and communicate with animals.

In this deceptively simple story the ordinary and the natural are transfused with the extraordinary and the wonderful. The tale has elements of a fairy story and yet remains rooted in a realistically described, historically accurate, everyday world. The combination of elements creates a powerful, poignant, thought-provoking read for all 9 to 11-year-olds. Tamsin Palmer

About the Author

Dick King-Smith was a Gloucestershire farmer until the age of 45, when he gave up farming to become a primary school teacher.

Now a bestselling full-time author, his work has received many awards including a Bronze Medal for the Smarties Prize of 1997 for All Because of Jackson and the Children's Book Award in 1995 for Harriet's Hare. In 1992, he was also voted Children's Author of the Year.

In 1995, his top-selling title The Sheep-Pig was developed into a box-office movie, BABE, introducing hundreds of thousands of youngsters to his work.