Almond mentions being influenced by Gabriel Garcia Marquez's short story "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," and readers may want to compare their own impressions of the story with Skellig. His work opens the door of reality to the unpredictability of the imagination in much the same way C. S. Lewis's characters stepped through the wardrobe door into Narnia in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and the Indian in the Cupboard awoke in Lynne Reid Banks's novel.

Readers may also find J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy entertaining, although the supernatural elements of these novels are more overt and attributed to the actual practice of magic with wands and spells.

Alice Hoffman's Aquamarine features the interaction of young teens with a mermaid, a mythical creature evoking the same sense of wonder Skellig does, although...