ReaditDaddy's Picture Book of the Week - Week Ending 29th May 2020: "The Stone Giant" by Anna Hoglund (Gecko Press)

This week's Picture Book of the Week is a fantastically dark little tale, not too scary for little ones but definitely one that evokes memories of classic Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson tales...

"The Stone Giant" by Anna Hoglund is the story of a plucky little girl who lives on a castle on an island with her father.

He's a brave knight - and one day a quest comes along that means he must travel to a dark mysterious and faraway land to do battle with a terrible giant - a giant who turns people to stone.

She busies herself around the castle while her father is away, waiting patiently each day for him to return. But soon it becomes apparent that the nasty giant has claimed another victim, so the girl must go and fight the giant herself - armed only with an umbrella and a mirror, and a ton of bravery!

Those woods don't look too inviting!

Soon the girl encounters the giant and knows exactly what to do. Hiding under the umbrella, she comes up with a plan to turn the Giant's stone-turning power on the giant herself! Will the girl triumph and free her dad?

It's a dark little tale this, the sort of book that we wish the UK publishing industry wouldn't keep shying away from but are secretly thankful that publishers like Gecko are around to make sure awesome dark tales like this see the light of day. It's also a real looker, with illustrations packed with detail and a timeless charm.

Sum this book up in a sentence: A dark and delicious little tale of a plucky young girl turning the tables on a nasty giant, filled with originality and thrills.

"The Stone Giant" by Anna Hoglund is out now, published by Gecko Press (kindly supplied as a digital ARC for review).