Rosa By Starlight

'A star-filled story of courage, belonging and the particular magic of feline friends. A treasure of a tale, beautifully told.' - A.F. Steadman, author of the Skandar series

From the Costa Award-winning author of The Skylarks' War, comes Rosa by Starlight by Hilary McKay, the story of a young girl looking for magic in the world, and the feline family who help her to find it. With gorgeous black and white illustrations by Keith Robinson.

Rosa lives in a world where she discovers there is magic. It arrives with Balthazar, a large black cat, just when she needs it most. Even so, it takes all her courage to stay hopeful and adventurous when her dreadful aunt and uncle move into her life.

And when she finds herself abandoned in the ancient city of Venice, can magic help her then? Perhaps it can.

The stars are watching, and there are lots of cats in Venice . . .

'Beautiful, captivating, such a joy to read I didn't want it to end!' - Sophie Anderson, bestselling author of The House with Chicken Legs and The Snow Girl

'A charming Ghibli-esque tale of a girl whose only friends are cats. Surprising and magical in equal measures.' - M. G. Leonard, bestselling author of The Adventure on Trains Series, The Twitchers series, and The Ice Children


_{*Hilary McKay won the Costa Children’s Book Award in 2018 with The Skylarks' War}

Hilary McKay won the Costa Children's Book Award for The Skylarks' War, the Guardian Fiction Prize for The Exiles, and the Smarties and the Whitbread Award for The Exiles in Love and Saffy's Angel respectively. She is also the author of Straw Into Gold, A Time of Green Magic and The Swallows' Flight, a companion novel to The Skylarks' War, among many critically-acclaimed titles. Hilary studied Botany and Zoology at the University of St Andrews, and worked as a biochemist before the draw of the pen became too strong and she decided to become a full-time writer. Hilary lives in Derbyshire with her family. Rosa by Starlight is one of her many books with Macmillan Children's Books.

Keith Robinson has been a freelance illustrator since 2001 and loves illustrating children’s fiction. His work is informed by a love of nature, myth and history, all of which can be found in abundance where he lives, on the Devon-Dorset border. The beautiful landscape of the West Country, the stunning scenery of the Jurassic Coast and the wilds of nearby Dartmoor provide a constant source of inspiration. When Keith isn't working he enjoys hiking, camping, beach-combing, playing the guitar and rummaging through second-hand book shops. He lives with his wife and two children in a woodland cottage near the seaside town of Lyme Regis. He works from his studio in the garden. Everyone else calls it a shed but he insists that it’s a ‘studio’.