Rooftoppers

Story

Sophie, seemingly orphaned in a shipwreck as a baby, is found in a cello case by Charles who becomes her guardian. When the Welfare Agency threaten to banish Sophie to an orphanage, the pair escape to Paris where Sophie meets a group of rooftoppers who help in the search for her mother.

Why we chose it

Katherine Rundell has written a number of best-selling books for children. Rooftoppers is a gentle, old- fashioned story about following your dreams and not giving up hope.

Where it came from

Whilst she was an undergraduate at Oxford, Katherine Rundell acquired a fascination with rooftop climbing having read a 1937 book called The Night Climbers of Cambridge. This, along with her hobby of tightrope walking and her love of authors such as Eva Ibbotson and Roald Dahl, lead to the creation of her second book.

Where it went next

Rooftoppers won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the Blue Peter Award for Best Story. It was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. Emmanuelle Ghez translated it into French under the title Le Ciel Nous Appartient (We Own the Sky) and it won the 2015 Prix Sorcières Junior Novels category.

Associated stories

Other books by Katherine Rundell include; The Wolf Wilder set in a Russian forest, Costa Children’s Book Prize winner, The Explorer, in which three children must find their way out of the jungle after a plane crash and The Good Thieves, set on the street of New York.

She has also written a book for adults called Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise, which encourages grown-ups to continue to read children’s books and find new perspectives on the world.