A Monster Calls

For the film adaptation of the novel, see A Monster Calls (film). For the stage adaptation, see A Monster Calls (play).

A Monster Calls
First edition cover
AuthorPatrick Ness (from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd)
IllustratorJim Kay
Cover artistJim Kay
LanguageEnglish
GenreFantasy
PublisherWalker Books
Publication date
5 May 2011[1]
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages214 pp (first edition)
152 pp (pdf edition)
ISBN978-1-4063-1152-5
OCLC754586643
LC ClassPZ7.N43843 Mok 2011[2]

A Monster Calls is a low fantasy novel written for young adults by Patrick Ness (from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd), illustrated by Jim Kay and published by Walker Books in 2011.[1] Set in present-day England, it features a boy who struggles to cope with the consequences of his mother's illness. He is repeatedly visited in the middle of the night by a monster who tells stories. Dowd was terminally ill with cancer when she came up with the idea for the story, and died before she could write it.[3]

Ness and Kay respectively won the Carnegie Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2012, the "year's best" children's literary awards by the British librarians (CILIP). A Monster Calls is the only book to have won both awards.[4][5][6][7]

The novel was adapted into the 2016 film of the same name, as well as a stage play also titled A Monster Calls.

  1. ^ a b "A Monster Calls / By Patrick Ness, Siobhan Dowd / Illustrated by Jim Kay". Walker Books. Retrieved 29 July 2012. This presentation by the publisher includes excerpts from book reviews. Archived 3 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "A monster calls: a novel" (first U.S. edition). Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference guardian-ness&kay was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference medal2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference greenaway was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference prdir2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference telegraph was invoked but never defined (see the help page).