Harry Miller's Run

by David Almond, Salvatore Rubbino (Illustrator)

Overview

From the masterful David Almond comes a joyful, wistful story of boyhood, running, and tales of days gone by, in a beautiful gift edition illustrated in full color.

Liam just wants to go out running with his mates—the Junior Great North Run is not far away, and there’s training to be done. But Mam needs him today, to help old Harry clear out his house. And Harry knows a thing or two about running. When he was a lad, he says, he ran from Newcastle to South Shields. “But Harry,” says Mam, “it’s thirteen miles!” Harry grins. “Different days,” he says. Here is the story of that day: of sweltering heat, clattering boots, briny sea air, and the heavenly taste of ice cream; the day when Harry and his pals ran and ran and ran through the blazing sunlight all the way to the sea.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763689759
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	02/07/2017
Pages:	64
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	7 - 9 Years

About the Author

David Almond has received several major awards, including a Hans Christian Andersen Award, a Carnegie Medal, two Whitbread Awards, an Eleanor Farjeon Award, and a Michael L. Printz Award. He is known worldwide as the author of Skellig, Clay, and many other plays, stories, and novels, including The Boy Who Swam with Piranhas, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers; The Savage, Slog’s Dad, and Mouse Bird Snake Wolf, all illustrated by Dave McKean; and My Dad’s a Birdman and The Boy Who Climbed Into the Moon, both illustrated by Polly Dunbar. David Almond lives in England.

Salvatore Rubbino is a graduate of the Royal College of Art in London. He is the creator of many acclaimed picture books, including A Walk in New York and A Walk in Paris. He lives in London.

Editorial Reviews

★ 12/12/2016
In a moving and exuberantly illustrated short story, 11-year-old Liam has entered the Junior Great North Run with his friend Jacksie, but his Saturday morning practice is preempted by his mother, who takes him to visit their elderly neighbor. Harry sits shakily in his chair, waiting to be moved to a nursing home: “It smells of old bloke in here,” thinks Liam. “Pee and sweat and ancient clothes and dust.” But a long talk reveals that when Harry was Liam’s age, he and three friends ran all the way to South Shields from Newcastle one hot summer’s day: “Thirteen miles,” he tells them with pride. Treasured photographs help Harry tell the story of his epic run, and of the girl he loved. Narrated in the working-class British dialect common to several of Almond’s books, the story may require parental translation in places, yet it’s near impossible to remain untouched by Harry’s tale. Rubbino’s airy full-color pictures, splashed across the pages, reveal that the frail, elderly Harry lived a life every bit as full of action, fun, and pleasure as Liam’s. Ages 7–9. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

In a moving and exuberantly illustrated short story, 11-year-old Liam has entered the Junior Great North Run...Narrated in the working-class British dialect common to several of Almond’s books, the story may require parental translation in places, yet it’s near impossible to remain untouched by Harry’s tale. Rubbino’s airy full-color pictures, splashed across the pages, reveal that the frail, elderly Harry lived a life every bit as full of action, fun, and pleasure as Liam’s.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Harry's valedictory "Me great achievement is that I've been happy, that I've never been nowt but happy," is a win in itself. Rubbino's loosely brushed watercolors expertly capture both the tale's period and its high spirits, rendering the present-day story in a gray wash and Harry's reminiscence in full color...A rich and resonant short story.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Rubbino’s lively watercolor illustrations enhance the tale’s warmth and contrasts, depicting Harry’s vivid recollections in bright colors and current happenings in a gray wash. Once again, Almond’s masterly evocation of place, time, relationships, and indomitable spirit is superb. An excellent addition to middle grade fiction collections.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

This intergenerational story sweetly captures the importance of memory and shows how the yearning for fun and adventure never really changes.
—Booklist

In Salvatore Rubbino’s lovely, lively brush strokes, we see the great adventure...Like Liam, readers ages 8-11 are likely to leave their encounter with Harry both heartened and happy.
—The Wall Street Journal

His sweet story is crafted into an elegant tale with a touch of magic in Almond’s quietly compelling, dialect-rich prose. Rubbino’s summer-hued watercolor, gouache, pencil and ink illustrations echo the naïve style and energy of Quentin Blake...this lovely illustrated take tugs gently at the nostalgic threads many children experience as they enter puberty, knowing that they are losing something precious that is worth holding on to in memory.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Absolutely first-rate, Harry Miller’s Run is perfectly executed in every way, washing over readers in unexpected ways that will provoke deep reflection about compassion and what life is really all about.
—Reading Eagle (from Kendal Rautzhan's "Books to Borrow")

From the Publisher

★ 03/01/2017
Gr 4–6—In this charming generational tale, elderly, frail Harry Miller shares a piece of his past with 11-year old Liam and his kindly mother, who are helping Harry pack up his home and move into a nursing home. Liam has been training for the Junior Great Northern Run, a short version of the now-famous annual half-marathon from Newcastle upon Tyne to South Shields, England. Seeing Liam in his race entry T-shirt prompts Harry to recall a hot April day in 1938 when he, at age 11, and two friends spontaneously and exuberantly embarked on the same run just to cool off with a swim in the North Sea. Along the way, they met Veronica, a spunky lass who joined their adventure, and Mr. Gabrieli, the ice-cream maker, who gave them all huge treats and handmade certificates for their 13-mile accomplishment. Harry revisits his past between naps and cups of tea while Liam and his mother sort through a box of photographs that spark Harry's memory, reveal his younger self, and hint at a longer, deeper relationship with Veronica. When Liam and his friend run the race a week later, after Harry's death, Liam's youthful jubilation matches Harry's fond reminisce. Liam delivers an engaging narration infused with delightful Briticisms and understated, sensitive observations. Like Liam, middle grade readers will begin to see Harry not as a quirky, failing old man but as a once-spirited boy who loved life. Rubbino's lively watercolor illustrations enhance the tale's warmth and contrasts, depicting Harry's vivid recollections in bright colors and current happenings in a gray wash. VERDICT Once again, Almond's masterly evocation of place, time, relationships, and indomitable spirit is superb. An excellent addition to middle grade fiction collections.—Gerry Larson, formerly at Durham School of the Arts, NC

School Library Journal

★ 2016-12-14
Nearing the end of his life, a beloved old runner passes the torch to an eager young one.Weaving past and present together in ways that infuse deep themes into common incidents, Almond sits 11-year-old Liam, already proudly wearing his official shirt for the upcoming Junior Great North Run, down with the failing Harry to share old photos and hear about a 1938 run to the sea. It begins as a lark but becomes a marathon, and by the time Harry and his friends stagger exhaustedly into the waves 13 weary miles later, they (and readers) have picked up some insights about the profound importance both of keeping on and of accepting help along the way. Much of that help comes from Veronica, a robust girl who leads them part of the way and by the end is holding Harry's hand. Her oblique reference to an internal disorder or weakness, coupled with her absence from Harry's later life, paints a whole tragic story of its own. Harry's valedictory "Me great achievement is that I've been happy, that I've never been nowt but happy," is a win in itself. Rubbino's loosely brushed watercolors expertly capture both the tale's period and its high spirits, rendering the present-day story in a gray wash and Harry's reminiscence in full color. All the characters appear to be white. A rich and resonant short story. (Illustrated fiction. 10 & up)

Kirkus Reviews