Toby and the Ice Giants – Joe Lillington

We seem to be in a really wonderful age for children’s fiction and publishing at the moment. Wide Eyed Editions and Flying Eye Books really are producing some simply beautiful works of art at the moment.

The books they produce are just beautiful, and you can’t help but breathe in their lovely bookish smell and stroke the wonderfully selected papers that they are printed on.

I was sent a copy of the forthcoming title, Toby and the Ice Giants and it is gorgeous. The production of the book means it is one that just begs to be read, lovely matt printed pages (using quality papers) and lovely engaging illustrations to draw the reader in.

Toby is a bison living in the Ice Age. The story follows his adventures to meet the Ice Giants. He meets a range of creatures from the era. What I really liked was the information bar on the page about each animals, great for a springboard into finding out more information.

He meets a Woolly Mammoth, a Glyptodon, a Short-Faced Bear and many others. The book switches with ease from portrait to landscape (to help capture the size of the ice giants) and Daniel giggled when we switched the book around to read it.

This book is enjoyable as a story, but is also a lovely introduction to the Ice Age period – it isn’t a period of time I have studied but this book has helped me understand a little more about the creatures that lived and the impact of early ‘man’.

This is a lovely little book and one that will be have a well earnt place on our bookshelf. What is particularly impressive is that given the ‘bland’ colour palette (browns and blues due to the time period and types of animals) it is surprisingly engaging for Daniel (at 2.5 years old).  I was surprised how much he enjoyed this book.

Flying Eye Books have some stunning books out (and more due soon). Do take a stop by their website to take a look. Or read my own wishlist here.

Toby and the Ice Giants is due to be published on 1 September 2015. I was sent a copy in exchange for a fair and honest review. All words, opinions and images are my own.