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A Sheep Called Skye
"Have you ever seen a sheep with an umbrella? I made one once out of a huge leaf. It worked for a bit but then the rain began coming through and it started getting soggy. I felt very silly standing there with an umbrella full of holes."
Skye is used to being different. She never knew her mother and was brought up on a Bed and Breakfast. But she longs to discover the place where someone like her, a sheep who doesn’t feel like a sheep, belongs. So she turns herself into a tourist attraction, selling scarves and tea-towels in windy car parks. Her ambition is to become a souvenir and live on a mantelpiece. Until she discovers a secret that changes everything...
Internationally acclaimed, this funny and original story is as much for adults as for children. Indeed for anyone with an ear for the bleat of a special sheep and an eye for the beauty of the island that bears her name.
Skye is used to being different. She never knew her mother and was brought up on a Bed and Breakfast. But she longs to discover the place where someone like her, a sheep who doesn’t feel like a sheep, belongs. So she turns herself into a tourist attraction, selling scarves and tea-towels in windy car parks. Her ambition is to become a souvenir and live on a mantelpiece. Until she discovers a secret that changes everything...
Internationally acclaimed, this funny and original story is as much for adults as for children. Indeed for anyone with an ear for the bleat of a special sheep and an eye for the beauty of the island that bears her name.
103 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2000
4 people want to read
About the author
S.R. Harris
9 books6 followersI started writing the books in the A Sheep called Skye series 10 years ago after spending a lot of time with sheep on the Isle of Skye. My books are fables – stories about the animal world which relate to the human world. Children can enjoy them simply as a story, or adults can read between the lines and discover another way of looking at the world.
I live part of the year on the Isle of Skye and spend the rest of my time in Brussels as my husband is Flemish. Some of my books have been translated into Dutch and are published by a Belgian publisher: I have written a book about ducks who can’t fly (Vlieglessen van een Vlegel), boys who find cocoa beans in vending machines (Het Mysterie van de Bienoboon ) and a girl who discovers she is special (The Godmother). These books have been the subject of numerous educational projects, both in Belgium and the UK , and I organise writing and poetry workshops and teach English to refugees.
My short stories have been shortlisted for the Asham, Ian St James and Bridport prize and are published in Wild Cards, the 1999 Virago anthology of writing women and Making Changes, an anthology published by Bridge House in 2008. I am now writing an adult novel which has something to do with … cows!
I live part of the year on the Isle of Skye and spend the rest of my time in Brussels as my husband is Flemish. Some of my books have been translated into Dutch and are published by a Belgian publisher: I have written a book about ducks who can’t fly (Vlieglessen van een Vlegel), boys who find cocoa beans in vending machines (Het Mysterie van de Bienoboon ) and a girl who discovers she is special (The Godmother). These books have been the subject of numerous educational projects, both in Belgium and the UK , and I organise writing and poetry workshops and teach English to refugees.
My short stories have been shortlisted for the Asham, Ian St James and Bridport prize and are published in Wild Cards, the 1999 Virago anthology of writing women and Making Changes, an anthology published by Bridge House in 2008. I am now writing an adult novel which has something to do with … cows!
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 11, 2014
Brilliant book for children and even as an adult it made me giggle, I'm trying to think of a child I can buy it for now!
November 6, 2015
Excellent book for young children (up to about 10 years) who don't fit in.
January 30, 2025
A cheerful story about a sheep who doesn't feel like a sheep and so embarks on an adventure, educating herself along the way. As you read along, traversing Scotland and some of northern England, you get swept up in the spirit of a sweet, sheep that is not like other sheep.
Which is kind of nice, you know?
And apparently others think so too as there is a subsequent series of Skye the Sheep books.
Which is kind of nice, you know?
And apparently others think so too as there is a subsequent series of Skye the Sheep books.
November 4, 2024
A charming fable in which a sheep learns the meaning of home. Although written for children, this is a story for all the family and anyone who loves the Isle of Skye.
April 17, 2025
The point of life is to be with those you love
October 26, 2025
Nice little book with no reason to complain.
Loved the writing style and bits of lore, for example sheep having their own “telephone system” and being able to stuff laughter into a backpack!
Loved the writing style and bits of lore, for example sheep having their own “telephone system” and being able to stuff laughter into a backpack!
March 7, 2024
"By the way, I live in a place called Skye. It's in the north-west of Scotland. It's full of heather and bog and water and sky (of course) and lots and lots of rain."
This is such a sweet children's book. I love the poetic things Skye puts in her bag (like a friend's laughter and a strong back). I love the moment she discovers she won't lose herself in mist. I love that the slaughterhouse truck is called out not ignored and the line about Skye pulling the wool back over her eyes like a normal sheep keeps the charm. I love the cuteness of fitting a sheep that can lay as flat as a carpet into your sleeping bag. This is a story about the feeling of not knowing quite who you are or where you fit, and the journey to finding home (and that sometimes you have to leave it before you can find it).
Skye is a Scottish Blackface sheep and most of the references to that read fine to me. But there is one line ("I came from a very wild spot, I told them. That was why I was black-faced. We were a very hardy breed.") - I think is innocently written but reads iffy to me now and I think might not have been published in 2024.
This is such a sweet children's book. I love the poetic things Skye puts in her bag (like a friend's laughter and a strong back). I love the moment she discovers she won't lose herself in mist. I love that the slaughterhouse truck is called out not ignored and the line about Skye pulling the wool back over her eyes like a normal sheep keeps the charm. I love the cuteness of fitting a sheep that can lay as flat as a carpet into your sleeping bag. This is a story about the feeling of not knowing quite who you are or where you fit, and the journey to finding home (and that sometimes you have to leave it before you can find it).
Skye is a Scottish Blackface sheep and most of the references to that read fine to me. But there is one line ("I came from a very wild spot, I told them. That was why I was black-faced. We were a very hardy breed.") - I think is innocently written but reads iffy to me now and I think might not have been published in 2024.
January 2, 2017
This book is good for young people but maybe not above 13 years old.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews