Stig of the Dump

A 1001 CBYMRBYGU. I'd never heard a whisper about this book here in the US and that is very sad to me. Barney discovers a caveman (caveboy?) named Stig living in the dump near his grandmother's home and together the two have an entire book of fun adventures. Is Stig real or just a wonderful madeup friend? Who knows? And it doesn't really matter; it just adds to the fun.

When I was about 12 or 13, my siblings and I became friendly with another family of kids. We'd go to their house, they'd come to ours. The oldest girl was my age and we were both readers so we swapped books. Stig of the Dump is the only one I can recall. I remember enjoying it, but don't even remember if I finished it or not. Likewise I don't remember how this brief friendship ended. I think her family must have moved away but childhood memories tend to be misty.

I didn't think too much about her again until a few years ago when I learned of her suicide after it made national headlines back home in Ireland. I obviously didn't know her well, and only for a brief moment in time, so don't want to eulogise but I've always associated this book with that period of my childhood. Thanks for the loan Dara!