Stitch by Padraig Kenny and Illustrated by Steve McCarthy - #bookreview

Stitch wakes up, just as he always has done for the past five hundred and eighty-four days he has been waking up.

Five hundred and eighty-five now, he thinks as he makes a mark with a piece of chalk on the wall by his bed. He says the words "five hundred and eighty-five" to himself because he can count, and saying the words makes the idea of waking up so many times more real - "more understandabubble", as Henry might say.

***

Stitch is not a monster – he’s a creation.

He and his friend Henry Oaf were brought to life by the genius Professor Hardacre, and have spent all their days in a castle deep in the woods, far from humankind. But when the Professor dies and his pompous nephew comes to take over the laboratory, they soon find out that his sights are set not on scientific discovery, but personal glory. And Henry is his next experiment.

Can Stitch and Henry escape his clutches and make their way in a world they were never built for – and may never be ready for them?

***

This is an utterly delightful book that was a joy to read. It is aimed at an audience of approximately nine years plus, and will be enjoyed by children, young people and adults alike. 

The book has been compared to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but the similarity ceases at the fact that Stitch and Henry have been created from parts of the recently deceased. It has been many years since  read Shelley's book and therefore cannot remember the details.  However, this does not feel like a children's adaptation of her book but is in fact much more a story in its own right. It is much more about the creations than the creator.

Stitch is a delightful character, as is his friend Henry. Their original creator has himself passed away and his nephew inherits his research papers and decides to develop and improve upon his uncles research.

However, it is through Stitch that we observe a humanity that does not appear in his human creator. We witness how he responds when he discovers he is a created being, and the book has much to say about identity, self-acceptance and the acceptance of those who perceive us as different. 

It is thought provoking in that it will ask children to consider the idea of difference and acceptance of others, and even reading this as an adult it remains a good reminder to show tolerance and kindness to others.

It is a charming and heartwarming story that was a delight to read. I highly recommend it.

ISBN: 978 1529517781

Publisher:  Walker Books

Formats:  e-book and paperback

No. of Pages:  208 (paperback)

About the Author:

Padraig Kenny is an Irish writer from County Kildare, now living in Limerick. Previously an arts journalist, a teacher and a librarian's assistant, he now writes full-time. His first novel Tin and recent The Monsters of Rookhaven were both Waterstones Books of the Month. He has twice won the Children's Books Ireland Honour Award for Fiction, has been nominated for the Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards. This is his first book for Walker.

About the Illustrator:

Steve McCarthy is an Irish designer and illustrator. His style is bold, colourful and inspired by humour and wit. Steve's first picture book, The Wilderness, won the Honour Award for Illustration at the Children's Books Ireland Awards. His poetry anthology with Sarah Webb, A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea, was the 2017 Children's Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards,

(book and banner courtesy of the publisher)

(author/illustrator photo info courtesy of Walker Books)

(illustrator photo courtesy of The Soho Agency)