David Almond is a British author who has written several novels for children and young adults from 1998. He won the Carnegie Medal for his debut novel Skellig in 1998; two Whitbread Awards; the U.S. Michael L. Printz Award for young-adult books for the novel Kit's Wilderness; the Smarties Prize, ages 9–11 years and the U.S. Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, Children's Fiction for the novel The Fire-Eaters; and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for the novel A Song for Ella Grey.

He has also won the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award. For the 70th anniversary of the British Carnegie Medal in 2007, his debut novel Skellig (1998) was named one of the top ten Medal-winning works, selected by a panel to compose the ballot for a public election of the all-time favourite. It ranked third in the public vote from that shortlist.