At another fairground he meets Pancho Pirelli whose circus act is swimming with piranhas. He takes his beloved fish home, but while Stanley is asleep his uncle turns them into canned fish, prompting the boy to run away with the Hook-A-Duck man and his daughter. Getting a rare day off for this birthday, Stanley visits a fairground, and feels so sorry for the goldfish in the Hook-A-Duck stall that he offers to do manual work at the stall in exchange for the fish. This totally takes over the whole house and soon Ernie ropes his nephew and wife in to help with the labour. When Uncle Ernie gets made redundant he sets up a fish-canning factory in their home. It tells the tale ( or fishtail!) of orphan, Stanley Potts, who lives with his aunt and uncle. The illustrations are flawless and the story almost lives up to them. This artwork continues on the inside in the form of black and white images with Jeffers’ font in chapter headings and occasional passages of text. The first thing I would say is that it is a very beautifully produced book with a stunning cover by Jeffers, featuring his trademark mixed media style of illustration and unique font. As a fan of both writer David Almond and illustrator Oliver Jeffers, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to review this title.

Clay by david almond summary