Review: Coffee and Ice Cream, by Milo McGivern

Blurb 

On an ocean somewhere in the world, is a mysterious island. A place shrouded in fog, that has never been discovered by humans. A land of peace and quiet, and chaotic, funny adventures. Welcome once again to the island of Animaux, a land that continues to mysteriously change its position on the planet each day, to keep it hidden. A paradise, containing a wonderful collection of talking animals. A place we would all like to visit.

The five new tales in ‘Coffee and Ice Cream’ flow smoothly from the ones in the last book, ‘A Surprise Party’. As always, the greedy, dusty, bad-mannered Aubrey the Turkey is up to no good. Watch him open a new delicatessen in the worst place imaginable. See him ruin poor Georgina the Goat’s birthday. Be amazed as Walli Hog and Clifford Platypus take on many jobs so they can pay off the turkey’s huge debts. And then see Aubrey hold a magic show, full of rubbish tricks but ending with the most amazing spell ever cast. Once again, stories packed with fun, silliness, naughty behaviour and happy endings.  

Please enjoy the stories. And don’t be afraid to laugh, particularly as Aubrey’s expense. But please, please, please – continue to remember to keep the latest position of the island top secret!

My Review

Thanks to the author for sending me a copy of this book and to Love Books Tours for organising this blog tour.

A goat gets a boyfriend, a turkey goes into space, or attempts to anyway, a shark gets his comeuppance and a warthog is surprisingly good a origami. There’s a lot more, but spoilers!

I had a good giggle reading this book. Aubrey is as obnoxious as ever and he really does not deserve his friends. Walli is so sweet, she needs a better landlord. Their adventures as Aubrey gets on their nerves and his friends try to teach him important lessons about treating others better.

I love the verbal imagery used in this book and the little sketch illustrations, they’re evocative and amusing.

I pass these books to my cousin’s six year old twins and they love them. Now, my little cousins are quite advanced in literacy (it’s a family trait), so it probably skews my evaluation of this book’s age range. I think if you’re reading it to children, younger children would appreciate the humour and cute animals. Slightly older children could very easily read it themselves.