October, October: WINNER OF THE YOTO CARNEGIE MEDAL 2022

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They revel in the nature and the seasons, they take care of their environment and the woods take care of them.

I loved Octobers vivid imagination and how she used it as a coping mechanism and a way to feel safe. So therefore October was forced to live with her mother in the city in leave her old life in the woods behind. October was the perfect character to portray this- having to get used to different surroundings, landscapes and people and venturing out of her safety net of home to find a whole new world awaiting her. I loved the writing but never felt anything else - which left me feeling a bit disappointed with the book overall. Suddenly, Fox and Fibber find themselves on an incredible adventure in a glow-in-the-dark rainforest full of golden panthers, gobblequick trees and enchanted temples.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.

I was at my last school for 4 years and we had ********* book fairs every term – and every term, I was disappointed by the narrow range of books. The descriptions of both environments are really well written and one becomes totally engrossed in the development of October as she adjusts. It‘s the story about a girl named October who lives in a little house in the woods with only her dad. Far from annoying me, it worked in the same way that the structure of Lanny by Max Porter fitted the narrative perfectly.More importantly, it means that “wild” children can see themselves in October without the usual labels and feel validated and loved. However, we follow her as she navigates her journey through school for the first time and socialising with her peers. October is a young girl thriving in her alternative off-the-grid lifestyle when she’s suddenly plunged into one of the biggest cities in the world and is forced to grapple with the fast-paced and metronomic nature of urban life – as well her own hostility towards her mother, who she holds responsible for this unwelcome change.

It's a magical book, a young girl lives in the forrest/woods with her father and they enjoy a very happy life in the outdoors. Balen is careful to show the consequences of October’s decisions and to present advantages as well as disadvantages so it’s not just countryside = good, city = bad. Katya is an author and the co-director of Mainspring Arts, a charity that provides creative opportunities for neurodivergent people. Orla thought she was in for a relaxing family holiday, but when she finds a mysterious glowing necklace in the woods, it turns out there is a slight possibility she may have uncovered an ancient curse.Written in Katya Balen's heart-stoppingly beautiful style, this book is a feast for the senses, filled with the woodsmoke smell of crisp autumn mornings and the sound of wellies squelching in river mud. This book would serve well as a guided reading book for KS2, and would lead to many possible experiential learning activities, such as mudlarking, creating cross-curricular links to PSHE and science, as well as English.

In particular, I loved that our eponymous young protagonist is never made to apologise for her feelings, chief of which is anger. I cared for her dad, and her mum, and Stig, and her newfound schoolfriends, and by the end I was just happy to see them be happy, even if I didn't think Balen put quite enough thought into resolving the issues that were making them unhappy in the first place.

There is much here about what it’s like to live in an estranged family, but also about the power of friendship and the ordinary things that give necessary structure to children’s lives like school and activities. Through October’s passionate and, at the same time, innocent thoughts, we enter her world surrounded by wilderness and freedom.