The Time of Green Magic

By: Hilary McKay

Narrated by: Saffron Coomber

From acclaimed author and Costa winner Hilary McKay comes The Time of Green Magic: a beautiful, spell-binding novel about a new families, a magical old house and a mysterious cat . . .

When Tom and Polly marry, blending their single parent families together, their children find it hard to relinquish their old lives. Max realizes his birth dad will never come home now, while Abi suddenly finds herself a middle child, expected to share far too much – especially with grubby little Louis. The family start over together, stretching their finances to the limit and renting an eerie, ivy-covered house, big enough for all of them.

But when the children are alone there, strange things start to happen. Worried, Louis summons comfort from outdoors, and a startling guest arrives – is it a cat, or an owl, or something else? Abi reads alone, tumbling deep into books. Max loses his best friend and falls in love.

Meanwhile, Louis' secret visitor is becoming much too real. And when Max and Abi too start to see the great spotted cat-thing that arrives in the night, it becomes a problem the three of them must find a way to solve – together. But where has the creature come from, and how will he get back?

Critic reviews

Picking up a book by Hilary McKay is like slipping on bed socks on a chilly night. She knows how to look after her readers by ensuring that her characters are interesting and loveable from the start . . . (The Times on The Skylarks' War, selected as Children's Book of the Year)

Hilary McKay is one of the great writers of children’s fiction (Sarah Hughes)

McKay couples warmth and grace with wry humour like nobody else out there (Katherine Rundell)

McKay is a superb writer (Sally Morris)

wise and kind and utterly heart-wrenching and full of characters you will give your whole heart to (Anna James)

Vivid, hilarious, and heartbreaking, Hilary McKay’s radiant characters touch my heart like real people, friends and loved ones I know well. Possibly the finest writer of our time. (Elizabeth Wein)

Hilary McKay has a rare gift for novels about families and their interplay. (LoveReading4Kids)