Imagine an island that shouldn't exist. A very strange place that has never been discovered by humans and that is populated only by speaking animals, very few of whom know about the bigger world beyond. An island that somehow changes its position on the planet each day, to prevent it from being found. Welcome to the Island of Animaux!
And welcome to five different but connected tales of Aubrey the Turkey and his pals. Stories of all shapes and sizes, with large slices of fun and even bigger portions of naughtiness. See Aubrey get his comeuppance at the fair, have a disaster when he tries to open a zoo, visit a vampire and stumble across Clifford Platypus, try to win a singing competition and then fall madly in love, at least until Walli Hog arrives. See Georgina the Goat despair at Aubrey's behaviour. Watch as Wesley the Weasel makes the turkey an offer he shouldn't refuse. See Clifford have fun in making Aubrey do terrible things. And join in with Aubrey and Clifford as they are mesmerised by Walli's tale of her lucky escape.
Please enjoy the stories. And don't be afraid to laugh, particularly at Aubrey's expense. But please, please, please - remember to keep the latest position of the island top secret!
It's my pleasure to be hosting the blog tour for The Island of Animaux today. Many thanks to Milo McGivern and Kelly Lacey from Love Books Tours for inviting me and for sending me a signed copy of the book.
I work in a primary school and regularly discuss reading with children across the year groups and I'm always interested to hear what they look for in a book. "Funny and adventurous" are the most common descriptions they tend to use when explaining their preferences and I'm sure that The Island of Animaux by Milo McGivern will appeal to young readers seeking humorous books. It is a fairly slim volume of four connected stories so I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for advanced readers who prefer more expansive novels but it would be a great choice for those who are still fairly new to chapter books and are looking for something a little more challenging.
The rather revolting characters aren't your run-of-the-mill children's fiction protagonists – you don't often find a bad-tempered, rude turkey with terrible dress sense as a main character but Aubrey the turkey is still somehow rather appealing, despite his more unsavoury habits. There's a hint of naughtiness to The Island of Animaux which is pitched just right as it won't concern adults but is irreverent enough to entertain children and it reminded me a little of Roald Dahl or David Walliams. Aubrey's plans for the furball he comes across on the big wheel for instance or his second-best-friend, Georgina the Goat's eating habits are really quite disgusting so will surely amuse its younger audience! The illustrations by Yuliya Somina capture the spirit of the narrative perfectly and the quirky, tongue-in-cheek descriptions means adults will enjoy reading it aloud too. With each short story broken up further into scenes, it's a great book to share at bedtime, whether a shorter or longer read is required.
Aubrey's madcap schemes find him encountering a scary situation at the funfair, upsetting some of the other animals when he plans to open Animaux's first zoo, as a contestant on the island's talent show, the Eggs Factor and even falling in love – although he doesn't get the happy ending he dreamed of and poor Claudia is even more unfortunate... He also has a visit from a unique doctor who might well make some readers shudder and I loved his encounter with a vampire bat when he needs to make some money. The Island of Animaux changes its position every day and I thought the inclusion of its various co-ordinates at the start of each story, which means children can search its location on Google Maps was a really clever idea. It encourages an interest in the world, combining the fictional island with real places and because we discover that animals sometimes arrive unexpectedly on Animaux, there is plenty of scope for new stories and adventures. In this book, for instance, Aubrey meets Clifford the Platypus, whose introduction is particularly memorable, and Walli the Warthog who makes her escape from a near-death situation on the South African veldt. None of the animals are the cute and fluffy sort often found in children's books; they are dirty, bad-mannered, thoughtless creatures but despite their insults and tricks, they help one another and perhaps most importantly accept and forgive their various flaws and foibles.
If I had to make a small criticism, it would be that the start of the book which features a woman who has ended up in hospital after accidentally spotting the island doesn't quite gel with the rest. I kept expecting to find out more and perhaps to experience the same situation from the perspective of Aubrey and the lizard she sees with him but this doesn't happen here – perhaps it will in the future? However, this didn't detract from my enjoyment and is only a minor quibble.
The conclusion to the final story in this book actually finishes on a cliffhanger which invites a return to the Island of Animaux to discover what happens next. Fun and imaginative, The Island of Animaux is an engaging book for children which will be enjoyed by the adults sharing it too. I look forward to reading more.
The Island of Animaux by Milo McGivern is self-published through Matador and can be purchased from the author's website or from Troubador, bookshop. org, Hive, Amazon and Kobo.
Don't miss the rest of the blog tour, details are below.
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