Ransom of Dond

Siobhan Dowd lived in Oxford with her husband, Geoff, before tragically dying from cancer in August 2007, aged 47. She was both an extraordinary writer and an extraordinary person.Siobhan's first novel, A Swift Pure Cry, won the Branford Boase Award and the Eilis Dillon Award and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and Booktrust Teenage Prize. Her second novel, The London Eye Mystery, won the 2007 NASEN & TES Special Educational Needs Children's Book Award. In March 2008, the book was shortlisted for the prestigious Children's Books Ireland Bisto Awards. Siobhan's third novel, Bog Child, was the first book to be posthumously awarded the Carnegie Medal in 2008.The award-winning novel A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness was based on an idea of Siobhan's. Her novella, The Ransom of Dond, was published in 2013, illustrated throughout by Pam Smy.

"Smy's illustrations depict the book's wild Celtic island setting ... bringing rich draughtsmanship to Dowd's beautifully crafted creation." -- Nicolette Jones Sunday Times - Children's Book of the Week "One of the most attractively produced works of junior fiction" -- Robert Dunbar The Irish Times "Embraces the magic of myths, with animal transformations and transporting dreams. Movingly, it is above all about the power of a mother's love and how much anyone facing death would want to live." -- Nicolette Jones Sunday Times "A beautiful, mystical fable for our time ... The Ransom of Dond is a book to be read aloud or alone. It provides a marvellous opportunity for storytelling and discussion." -- Clare Morpurgo The School Librarian "A riveting story which ... raises questions about religion and highlights the dangers of ignorance. But equally, it is a tale of love and family, and their ability to conquer all ... As a physical thing, it is a beautiful book. From the dustcover to the endpapers, it is a joy to hold." Children's Books Ireland - Inis magazine