Clive King (1924–2018)
Author of Stig of the Dump
About the Author
Clive King was born in Richmond, Surrey, United Kingdom on April 24, 1924. He studied at Downing College, Cambridge and at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London before serving in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. He later worked as a language teacher for the British Council. His show more first children's book, Hamid of Aleppo, was published in 1958. His other books included The Twenty-Two Letters, The Town that Went South, The Night the Water Came, Me and My Million, Ninny's Boat, The Sound of Propellers, The Seashore People, and Snakes and Snakes. Stig of the Dump was published in 1963 and was adapted for television in 1981 and in 2002. He also wrote plays for children's theatre including Poles Apart, Get the Message, and The Butcher of Rye. He died on July 10, 2018 at the age of 94. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: The Wee Web
Works by Clive King
Die Nacht, in der das Wasser kam. 2 copies
El amigo secreto de Barney 1 copy
Ein Freund wie Stig 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- King, David Clive
- Birthdate
- 1924-04-24
- Date of death
- 2018-07-10
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- UK
- Country (for map)
- England, UK
- Birthplace
- Richmond, Surrey, England, UK
- Places of residence
- Richmond, Surrey, England, UK (birth)
Oliver's Farm, Ash, Kent, England, UK
Norfolk, England, UK - Education
- University of Cambridge (Downing College)
University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies)
King's School, Rochester, England, UK - Occupations
- author
- Organizations
- Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (WWII)
British Council
Members
Reviews
Stig of the Dump (A Puffin Book) by Edward Ardizzone
A favourite from my childhood, still brought out occasionally
A charming story about eight-year-old Barney who spends holidays with his grandmother, explores a local chalk pit and makes friends with the cave-boy Stig who lives in a shelter at the bottom and makes tools and weapons from the accumulated detritus. Many adventures ensue, and there's also some midsummer magic.
Initially the low stakes, slow paced ambience of this book was a shock in comparison to contemporary world-saving, thrill-ride, kids' books but having accepted it for what it is, I found this book to be charming and by the end, delightful. It's heavily episodic, with no discernable through-plot, but Barney and Lou's adventures with Stig when they visit their grandmother are successively more extravagant and the last two chapters are particularly surprising and fun.
A delightfully little story about a eight year old boy, Barney. He is a curious boy, with a desire to explore, and is told not to go too close to the edge of the quarry. He does get too close though, and falls down to the bottom. He lands in a cave cut into the chalk, and there looking at him is a short hairy man, with sparkling black eyes, and wearing animal furs. The start to communicate using gestures and grunt, and barney decides to call him Stig. And so begins a series of adventures with his new friend. They raid the rubbish dump at the bottom, disturb a fox hunt, and capture an escaped animal from a circus amongst other scrapes.
Part of a challenge where you had to read a book from your childhood, this was one that I had fond memories of, and amazingly I could still remember details of the story several decades on. Timeless storytelling at its best.… (more)
Part of a challenge where you had to read a book from your childhood, this was one that I had fond memories of, and amazingly I could still remember details of the story several decades on. Timeless storytelling at its best.… (more)
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Statistics
- Works
- 17
- Also by
- 1
- Members
- 1,222
- Popularity
- #21,017
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 20
- ISBNs
- 67
- Languages
- 3