Publication Date: 2 November 2023

The Blurb

At the stroke of midnight on the dawn of December, five-year-old Finn Albedo is found frozen in the city park standing on a pedestal of ice. His heart is beating, he is smiling serenely, but no one can wake him.

Finn’s big sister, Bianca, suspects that the beautiful sparkling book Finn got from the library has something to do with it, but the book has vanished. Does the tall mysterious stranger who first discovered Finn know more than they will admit?

Each day, more children are found frozen and Bianca realizes she’s running out of time. Her quest to discover the truth and rescue her little brother hurls her into a fantastical winter wonderland, full of beauty and danger, where all is not as it seems.

Can Bianca save her brother and the other Ice Children before they are forever lost?

The Review

There is something completely magical about stories with wintry settings in stories that reflect the change that frost and snow bring to our world, blanketing it, muting it, slowing it down. And so it was, with frost in the garden and a mug of warming chai, that I sat down to read this wintry offering from master storyteller, M.G. Leonard.

The Ice Children is a spellbinding blend of fantasy and adventure that will captivate you with its richly imagined world and engaging characters. Imaginative storytelling and the heart tugging plot, with peril around every corner, transports you to a world where magic awaits, leaving you with a sense of awe and wonder at the beauty and fragility of the natural world in the grip of climate change, while reaffirming the power of stories and love to change the world and bring harmony.

The stunning endpapers and illustrations throughout the book bring details from the frozen world of Winterton to life while capturing the emotions and quirks of the characters, and their winter spirit animals. Mine would be a winter snow squirrel!

With nods to classics, the Snow Queen and The Selfish Giant, this is a modern day fairytale that speaks to the dangers our world is facing, and that needs all of us to pull together. Bianca stands as a reminder to us all that children have as much of a right to voice their opinions and deserve to be listened to, for they are the next generation of leaders, scientists and trailblazers who will have to do all they can to reverse the damage previous generations have caused.

Whether at bedtime or as a class story, this is a book that begs to be read allowed, savoured and discussed.

Huge thanks to Macmillan for sending me a copy.