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Nicola Davies is an award-winning author whose many books for children include Ice Bear, Big Blue Whale and King of the Sky . She is a Zoology graduate, an expert in whales and bats, and has worked for the BBC Natural History Unit. She lives in Powys
Read more about Nicola Davies here.
Please note there are two children's authors called Nicola Davies which our systems are unable to tell apart. The books Star in the Custard, Shampoo and Seawater, and Stories from Abergele Street are not written by this Nicola Davies. Apologies.
A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month June 2021 | In a spare, poetic text, Nicola Davies shows how easy it is to label someone as ‘different’ and how easy it is to treat them badly once that has been done. But she also shows how a new child can turn that hostility round by introducing the special things from her own life. Cathy Fisher’s illustrations capture the powerful but understated point of the story perfectly making this apparently quiet book speak volumes.
In a spare, poetic text, Nicola Davies shows how easy it is to label someone as ‘different’ and how easy it is to treat them badly once that has been done. But she also shows how a new child can turn that hostility round by introducing the special things from her own life. Cathy Fisher’s illustrations capture the powerful but understated point of the story perfectly making this apparently quiet book speak volumes.
Nicola Davies celebrates the forthcoming 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in this beautifully illustrated picture book. Using the metaphor of each child being a song, she explores some of the 54 rights it sets out, from the right to education, to freedom of thought and expression, to the rights of child refugees. Short, lyrical sentences of text will start discussion and conversation and Marc Martin’s rich water-colour illustrations, whether of children, scenes or vegetation, add movement and drama. A book to inspire children to think about the world and their place within it.
August 2019 Book of the Month | Nicola Davies celebrates the forthcoming 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in this beautifully illustrated picture book. Using the metaphor of each child being a song, she explores some of the 54 rights it sets out, from the right to education, to freedom of thought and expression, to the rights of child refugees. Short, lyrical sentences of text will start discussion and conversation and Marc Martin’s rich water-colour illustrations, whether of children, scenes or vegetation, add movement and drama. A book to inspire children to think about the world and their place within it.
Longlisted for the UKLA Book Awards 2020 | Shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2019 | Award-wining Nicola Davies has created a beautiful story which makes its powerful point brilliantly by focusing on the plight of a single child refugee. A little girl’s way of life - one that will be familiar to children around the world - is totally destroyed when the war comes. Having lost everything, alone and facing terrible danger, she travels across the world in search of a new home. But who will help her to find one? Nicola Davies never preaches, instead she allows her story and Rebecca Cobb’s equally sensitive and warm-hearted illustrations to carry the message with their own integrity and eloquence. The book is endorsed by Amnesty International.
Interest Age 8+ Reading Age 8 | A Julia Eccleshare Pick for November 2018 | Award-winning author Nicola Davies has a special talent for writing about the special bonds that can exist between children and animals. She also has a commitment to make sure that children of all kinds can find themselves in a story. In The Dog That Saved Christmas she brings the two strands together beautifully. The touching story tells of how Christmas is made happy for Jake by his friendship with a lost dog. For Jake, Christmas is not a time of fun but a time of huge anxiety as he copes with bright lights, loud noises and the unexpected behaviour of others and the changes in routines. But, when he finds a lost dog on the street, the two forge a very special bond. In the little dog Susan, Jake finds a companion who enables him to stay calm and to cope with the things he finds difficult. A beautiful story which is especially suitable for children finding reading stamina.
July 2018 Book of the Month | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month July 2018 | | A brilliant celebration and evocation of everything to do with the sea. The many, brief poems cover favourite holiday experiences including the excitement of being the first to see the sea, paddling, seagulls and building sandcastles; specific sea creatures such as sharks, limpets and the special fish which live on coral reefs; the drama of the seas in terms of shipwrecks and, more recently, terrible risk the sea is under from human waste. Both the poems and Emily Sutton’s illustrations to them will bring the very special qualities of the sea closer to everyone.
Shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2019 | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month June 2018 | Award-wining Nicola Davies has created a beautiful story which makes its powerful point brilliantly by focusing on the plight of a single child refugee. A little girl’s way of life - one that will be familiar to children around the world - is totally destroyed when the war comes. Having lost everything, alone and facing terrible danger, she travels across the world in search of a new home. But who will help her to find one? Nicola Davies never preaches, instead she allows her story and Rebecca Cobb’s equally sensitive and warm-hearted illustrations to carry the message with their own integrity and eloquence. The book is endorsed by Amnesty International.
Shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2017 | May 2017 Picture Book of the Month | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month May 2017 | | In a story full of hope against adversity, King of the Sky tells how flying a homing pigeon helps a young boy comes to terms with his life in a strange country far, far from home. Now living under grey skies in a country where he feels an outsider, a young boy misses the blue sky, warm sun and of ice cream of his home in Rome. But when he his racing pigeon returns to him safely from Rome the boy realises that home is where he is and he finds a new sense of belonging.
February 2018 Book of the Month | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month February 2018 | A stunning book that is also an invaluable introduction to how to look at the world around us. Nicola Davies invites readers to look at the flowers, the birds, the insects, the fishes and more in habitats of all kinds around the world. She shows the value of individual groups and also the importance of the how all aspects of nature are interconnected. Emily Sutton’s beautiful illustrations bring the natural world sharply into focus making it both delightful and accessible. ~ Julia Eccleshare Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month for February 2018 Kevin by Rob Biddulph My Name is Victoria by Lucy Worsley Lots: The Diversity of Life by Nicola Davies A Busy Day for Birds by Lucy Cousins Words and Your Heart by Kate Jane Neal The Iron Man by Ted Hughes Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram No More Kissing by Emma Chichester Clark
In a story full of hope against adversity, King of the Sky tells how flying a homing pigeon helps a young boy comes to terms with his life in a strange country far, far from home. Now living under grey skies in a country where he feels an outsider, a young boy misses the blue sky, warm sun and of ice cream of his home in Rome. But when he his racing pigeon returns to him safely from Rome the boy realises that home is where he is and he finds a new sense of belonging.
A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month April 2017 | A stunning book that is also an invaluable introduction to how to look at the world around us. Nicola Davies invites readers to look at the flowers, the birds, the insects, the fishes and more in habitats of all kinds around the world. She shows the value of individual groups and also the importance of the how all aspects of nature are interconnected. Emily Sutton’s beautiful illustrations bring the natural world sharply into focus making it both delightful and accessible. ~ Julia Eccleshare Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month for April 2017 The Giant Jumperee by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury Grandapa Green by Lane Smith I'm Going to Eat This Ant by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros Lots: The Diversity of Life on Earth by Nicola Davies Mrs Mole, I'm Home! by Jarvis Silver by Walter de la Mare
