Our quest to catch up with the David Melling books continues - and we luckily spotted one we'd been wanting to read for quite a while at our local library. "The Tale of Jack Frost" is probably one of David Melling's best known Non-Hugless-Douglas books, due in no small part to a televised version of the story broadcast a few years ago.
It's a delightful tale of a small boy, found in the forest by kindly creatures. No ordinary boy this, he has an affinity for cold and soon the animals dub him 'Jack Frost'.
Jack lives a charmed life in the magic forest, as mythical creatures and the sheltering trees take good care of him and keep an eye on him - until one day the mischievous goblins become jealous of the magic entwined in Jack's forest home, and want to claim it for themselves.
Thinking that a small child will be no match for the irresistible force of a bunch of greedy goblins, they vastly underestimate Jack's cunning and his own magic power - to freeze anything he touches.
We've said it before in reviews of David Melling's books, and we'll say it again. No one draws mythical creatures better than Mr Melling and, coupled with a way of gently weaving a stunning story, it's not difficult to see why "The Tale of Jack Frost" is such a massive hit.
Brilliant, and probably our favourite Melling book to date.
Charlotte's best bit: Charlotte is completely and hopelessly in love with the unicorns!
Daddy's favourite bit: Such brilliant, tiny, exquisite little details tucked away in each page. Always feels like a fresh experience with every read as you spot things you hadn't noticed before. Lovely!