Coming and Going by Isabel Minhos Martins and Bernardo Carvalho (Tate Publishing)

Is it slightly unusual that a children's picture book can evoke sound and movement in your head as you read? We've been taking a look at the amazing range of children's books from Tate Publishing and "Coming and Going" really sticks in the mind as a book that fully immerses you while you're reading it, and almost feels like a treat for all five senses. Yet it has quite a serious core environmental message that is not dumbed down for children, is thought provoking and of course promotes a million questions from C about why we human beings do the things we do.


In "Coming and Going" we have a human's eye view of our planet and the amazing creatures who live on it - and how we should take great care to ensure that we protect them, and have less of an impact on their habitats and resources. The theme is travel, hence the title "Coming and Going" and we find out how even the tiniest animals can travel great distances without burning fossil fuels or having an adverse effect on our ecology.

Isabel's lyrical text has a huge impact and allows the message to sink in gently without hammer blows. Bernardo Carvalho's illustrations are truly beautiful (as you can see from this blog post and the images we've included), underlining the message with artistic flair.

This is a hugely impressive book indeed!


Charlotte's best bit: Charlotte's favourite insects (Butterflies and moths) are able to travel huge distances with no jet engines!

Daddy's Favourite bit: Thought provoking, stylish and gorgeously presented. An impactive and immersive book with an important core message.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Tate Publishing)