The Island of Animaux

What a good, totally unique book. Short, funny and original stories involving a rather moody turkey and his chums. The characters are all very well described and I can see people I know in some of them! :-) Kids will really like the book. Each story consists of 3 scenes. I haven't seen this done before and it makes the story appear more like a play. But a minor point, otherwise excellent.

I heard about this book from a friend. And what a wonderful collection of short stories it is! Things start in the Scilly Isles, with a woman who has found a map in an old bottle and seen a turkey and lizard on the beach. The rest of the first story plus the following ones take us to the Island of Animaux. We meet the turkey, Aubrey, plus many of his creature friends. There are no humans! I think I can work out what the author is trying to do. He is taking the reader on a journey through time that will probably see things ending up on the beach at the start of the first story. I like the fact that a follow on book is mentioned at the end. I will be looking for it when it comes out. I think children will adore the Island of Animaux. It is quite unlike any children's book I have read.

There is an island that doesn’t exist, and its inhabitants are unaware of its perilous characteristic. Whilst adults might find this existence frightening, the animals, the sole residents of this travelling island; it changes its location every day, are blissfully unaware of their home’s location and are pottering about their daily tasks and chores.

Or are they?

Written by Steve Humphries under the pen name of Milo McGivern, we are introduced to the characters - Aubrey the Turkey and his friends, and we read, often in horror and despair with chuckles and smirks thrown in for a good measure, as Aubrey gets in shenanigans after shenanigans - the island’s resident turkey’s naughtiness knows no bounds!

What kind of trouble does Aubrey get into?

Well, there is that one incident at the fair, which he swears wasn't his fault, or the time where he miserably fails to set up a zoo to impress his friends, or how about the time when he visits a vampire? His predilection for falling into trouble is hilarious and often ends with a humiliating lesson from which the turkey never learns.

Compact and written in an engaging manner, the story liberally uses whimsical names, such as Georgina the Goat, Fluffy Cloud Lane, Claudette the Crane, Walta the Warthog (who fell down the burrow hole in the veldt as she was running away from a lion!) and my personal favourite, Doctor Dangle, who is a spider, to giggles and chortles amongst its young readers.

The book is first in the series, it ends on abruptly, a little too much. I was drawn deep into the lives of the islanders and to suddenly tap on the screen and find that its over was a bit of shock, the kind that Aubrey the Turkey gets when Clifford the Platypus from Australia pops his head up from his toilet in his house!

The author isn't really exploring any theme here in particular. Though, it did occasionally remind me of the stories of Noddy, where the sometimes the intentions done with the best of the heart, often go awry.

Aubrey the Turkey, sigh, you do try your best to be a good creature at heart, but you just don't know how.

The illustrations, by Yulia Somina, far and in between, are sublime in their presence, adding to the tone of the light and breezy reading of the tales of the Aubrey The Turkey on the Island of Animaux.

A lovely book of funny short stories about the animals of the Island of Animaux. A recommended read and one I will be buying for a friend's little boy when it is published.

A crazy, funny set of tales. On an island somewhere on the plant Aubrey the Turkey and his friends have many very amusing adventures. Most of the time Aubrey is left holding the short end of the stick and yet he never changes his approach next time, even though his friends try to make him do so. McGivern has captured the characters of all his creatures perfectly and I could actually imagine myself sitting in the armchair in the front room of the house at the end of Fluffy Cloud Lane. A+ for a first book.

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.

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 and Troubador Publishing Limited for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a candid review
3 Stars - Liked It

Animaux is an island that changes location a lot, the only inhabitants are animals. In these stories we follow our main character Aubrey the turkey.

I had a love - hate relationship with Aubrey the turkey, I felt bad for him because of his bad luck all the time but on the other hand he was also very mean to his friends.
You meet a lot of inhabitants of Animaux throughout the story such as Georgina the goat and Clifford the platypus.

The stories were very enjoyable and funny! I liked the little illustrations.