Who are you if you’ve never seen another face like yours? Where do you belong if you don’t know where your home is? What do you call yourself when others call you ‘freak'...?

Skrimsli is a second fantasy adventure from author Nicola Davies, set in a world where animals and humans can sometimes share their thoughts. It traces the early life of Skrimsli, the tiger sea captain who stole readers’ hearts in The Song that Sings Us. He and his friends, Owl and Kal, must first escape the clutches of a tyrannical circus owner, then stop a war and save an ancient forest! They are helped by a desert princess and her eagle, a chihuahua who thinks she’s a wolf, a horse with heart of gold and the crew of a very unusual ship.This is a story full of excitement and danger, which explores themes of friendship, loyalty, identity and love, in the context of some of humanity’s toughest problems.

Prizes

Winner of Wales Children's Book of the Year 2024,Short-listed for Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing, Children's 2024

‘[A] marvellous, beautiful, beautiful story... Everyone should read this book’

‘Gripping, masterful and powerful. An absolute must-read from a storyteller at her best’

‘Never since reading Lord of the Rings, have I felt so attached to the characters, their troubles, their journeys, pain and joys. This is an epic tale, oceanic in atmosphere yet intimate. It skillfully weaves stories within a story and lives within lives. Each is explored and cherished and brought together in such harmony it sings. A tale that is cleverly as relevant to our world as theirs.'

Nicola Davies is an award-winning author whose many books for children include the double Carnegie nominated The Song That Sings Us (Firefly, 2021). Nicola graduated in Zoology from King's College, Cambridge, and studied geese, bats and whales before becoming a presenter for The Really Wild Show and the BBC Natural History Unit. She has been writing for children for more than 20 years. Nicola is based in west Wales.