John Boyne was born in Ireland in 1971. He is the author of nine novels for adults, five for young readers and a collection of short stories. Perhaps best known for his 2006 multi-award-winning book The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, John's other novels, notably The Absolutist and A History of Loneliness, have been widely praised and are international bestsellers. His most recent book is The Boy At The Top Of The Mountain, which sees him returning to the setting of the Second World War. His novels are published in over 45 languages. www.johnboyne.com @john_boyne
With goodly dollops of magic and wonderful surrealism, it has a fable-like quality. If they like magical stories, and if they like to deal with serious issues in a metaphorical way, they will love this sweet, funny and kindly book. I certainly did The Bookbag This delightful, bittersweet 'fairytale' is a flight of fantasy with playful use of language and a joy from start to finish. Noah's heartbreaking emotional journey is lightened by a rich vein of absurd humour and eccentric characters Daily Mail Destined to become something of a children's classic Mail On Sunday It's inventive, wily, twisty ... Noah Barleywater Runs Away is a carefully crafted whimsical gem, a story to share with others and to discuss at book clubs, a true publishing event Irish Independent Boyne has interesting things to say about identity, self knowledge and how we cope with life's travails and the book really does benefit from a second reading. Oliver Jeffers has produced beautiful cover artwork and his line drawings are suitably enigmatic helping to make this both an attractive and desirable package The School Librarian