Review – The Island of Animaux by Milo McGivern

7th February 2020

ARC

Title: The Island of Animaux
Series: Tales From Animaux, #1
Author: Milo McGivern
Genre: Children
Source: NetGalley
Publication Date: 28 May 2020
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Limited
Format: Kindle

The Island of Animaux by Milo McGivern is a lovely book. It’s set on a movable island that mysteriously travels from place to place and obtains new inhabitants to delight us with their personalities. These stories are quirky enough to be a little bit like here but so off tilt that makes it wonderful to read.

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! Goodreads

The stories centres around the main character of Aubrey, who is a turkey with many bad habits, he’s dirty, rude and greedy. But on occasion, can be charming and persuasive which is what usually leads to many disastrous schemes. He really is the bane of his second-best friend, Georgina the goat, who is very forgiving.

The characters are warm, engaging and just fun to read. A turkey who blogs. A weasel who runs a fairground ride. The ideas are endless. It’s wacky, silly but not stupid, it all makes sense when you read it!

Each story is entertaining, wickedly funny in places and brilliantly illustrated in the Kindle edition. I loved the scenes depicted, which were some of the most odd and amusing.

I will definitely be reading again as I’m sure I missed out on some nuances – there were double meanings aplenty, so suitable for adults and children.

Eagerly awaiting the next installment.

My thanks to NetGalley, Troubador Publishing Limited and Matador for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a candid review

3 Stars – Liked It