Toby and the Ice Giants

K-Gr 3—Narrative meets nonfiction in this initial offering by Lillington. Toby, the young bison, leads readers on a tour of the animal and human inhabitants of the world during the last Ice Age. As Toby meets each new inhabitant, relevant facts about each species are revealed in informative side panels. Lillington's muted illustrations and his consistent comparison of each to the size of a child are the major strengths of this book and the facets that will resonate with young readers. Unfortunately, the anthropomorphized dialogue is terrible and Toby's adventure is too weak a structure to hold together the profusion of facts presented. In addition, if this text is meant for the American market, the measurements of height, weight, etc., should be expressed in customary measurements as well as in metric in order to avoid reader confusion.