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This is a beautiful book about the interconnectedness of humans, nature (animals, specifically), and celestial beings. I love the genre of magical realism, and this book falls right into that. The concept is unique, and I really like the main characters, Michael, Mina, and Skellig. The concept sort of reminds me of the chapter in Mary Poppins that deals with Michael and Jane's younger siblings, which puts forth the idea that babies can talk to animals but lose the ability as they get older and begin to use human speech. Also, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, which claims that babies are birds and know how to fly until they become fully human and lose the ability. The main theme, though, is love. Michael loves Skellig and Mina and his little sister, and Skellig loves them all back. I like the idea that the kids know something the adults don't but that the parents sense something and understand on a more intuitive level that which the kids are able to see with their physical eyes. This is a great book for children, young adults, and adults. I highly recommend it.
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Upon rereading this book, I upped it a star because I really don't see any flaws with it other than the voice. Michael's age is never stated, and he definitely sounds like a kid, but there are things he says or thinks that feel more adult to me. Because we never know his age, though, the book has a quality that can appeal to all ages of readers as I stated above.
What struck me the most during and after this read were the wonder that Almond uses Michael to express and the interesting connection between faith and science.
First, Michael and Mina feel wonder about life. They don't ever see it as plain, boring, or ordinary, and I love that. There's something magical about being, whether you're a kid or an adult. Life is beautiful and extraordinary if you know how to look for, find, and see the beauty and wonder of it all.
Second, faith and science are often seen as contradictory and mutually exclusive. I don't mean "religion" when I say faith but instead that quality that allows us to sense things beyond what we perceive with our five concrete senses. Faith can include religion, of course, and should be part of any religion, but faith can be broader. Almond emphasizes the link between all living beings but also between humans, animals, and celestial beings. He does this through the idea of evolution, really playing up on the fact that dinosaurs were the distant relatives of birds and highlighting the connections between birds and angels (wings, feathers, flight, etc.). What's interesting, though, is that in order to see these connections, Mina and Michael have to understand evolution. To really appreciate a celestial being, one that is neither man nor bird nor angel but an odd and unique mixture of all three, Mina and Michael need science. They need knowledge, which is what science actually means, and I think people forget that. You can't have faith without knowledge and vice versa. Otherwise, faith is blind, and knowledge is empty.
I find this point especially interesting because I am a Christian, a woman of faith, who also loves and appreciates science. The cool thing about Christianity and evolution is that both propose a common ancestor, and both propose a link or commonality between and among all living things. Although that common ancestor may appear different, and that link or commonality is different, it doesn't change the fact that there is common ground if we're open to it. I think Almond is open to it through this book. He reveals deeper truths about faith and evolution, about faith and science, that I didn't fully notice the first time I read this book.
Once again, I highly recommend Skellig, a book that isn't for children but for anyone that appreciates well-developed characters (Mina is by far my favorite!!), a closely-plotted story, and an obvious but layered theme, all accentuated by truly beautiful, moving, and thought-provoking writing. I would definitely re-reread this book.