Stig of the Dump
  • Published: 22 October 2014
  • ISBN: 9780141354859
  • Imprint: Puffin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 272
  • RRP: $21.00

Stig of the Dump

Formats & editions
Paperback
22 Oct 2014
Hardback
25 Jul 2023
EBook
2 Aug 2010
Audiobook
3 Jul 2014
Buy from…
The Nile Mighty Ape BookHub Whitcoulls The Warehouse Paper Plus Fishpond Book Hero Unity Books University Book Shop Find Local Retailers

A new edition to mark the 60th anniversary of this classic adventure - the tale of Barney and his unlikely friendship with stone-age Stig.

Puffin Classics: the definitive collection of timeless stories, for every child.

A book with a real, modern heart - Phil Earle

The Thing sitting in the corner seemed to be interested. It got up and moved towards Barney, into the light. Barney was glad to see it was Somebody after all. Funny way to dress though, he thought, rabbit-skins round the middle and no shoes or socks.

Barney spends a lot of time by himself, and often goes wandering off alone. One day he is exploring by the edge of an old chalk-pit, when it gives way. Finding himself in some sort of cave, Barney is astonished to discover a 'somebody' living there: somebody with a lot of shaggy hair and two bright black eyes, wearing a rabbit skin and speaking in grunts.

Barney names him Stig, and the two quickly become best friends. Of course nobody believes Barney when he tells his family all about Stig. But Barney doesn't care. He and Stig are far too busy having a brilliant series of unforgettable adventures.

Much-beloved by children for generations, Stig of the Dump is the ultimate story about the joyful freedom of mucking around outdoors, having fun away from the grown-ups . . . !

"This lovely story about the unlikely friendship between Barney and stone-age Stig has stood the test of time . . . contemporary children will love reading about the pair's lively adventures" - Booktrust
  • Published: 22 October 2014
  • ISBN: 9780141354859
  • Imprint: Puffin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 272
  • RRP: $21.00
Categories:

About the authors

Clive King

David Clive King was born in Richmond, Surrey, England in 1924 but spent most of his childhood in Ash, a small village some 30 miles from London on the Kentish North Downs, where he and his three brothers used to play in a disused chalk pit. He was a boarder at King's School, Rochester at a time when every boy expected to be called up for the armed services in World War Two, and he opted for the Navy. This gave him seagoing experience that took him to the Arctic, Australia and Asia.

He returned with a post-war grant to Downing College, Cambridge, where he read English and Russian. The British Council offered him jobs, mostly concerned with teaching English, in Amsterdam, Belfast, Syria, Beirut, Dhaka and Madras (now Chennai). Many of these places provided settings for the stories he was writing. In 1973, he became a full-time writer, heartened by the growing popularity of his third book, Stig of the Dump. Clive lives in Norfolk with his family.

He comments:
'Places give me ideas for stories, and I like to get the topography exactly right. My travels have also given me an interest in the misunderstanding caused by different languages and backgrounds - though, yes, I do believe we can all get on with each other. I don't really know why Stig of the Dump is so much more popular than my other books. Perhaps it's because it combines my own experience and fantasies with those of my son Charles, in the English countryside we both knew so well.'

Edward Ardizzone

Edward Ardizzone (1900-1979) illustrated over 200 books and was awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal for Tim All Alone. He was awarded the CBE in 1971.