A perfect, Winter read.

When Finn brings the most beautiful book home from the library, but refuses to let his sister Bianca read it, a chain of events occurs that could threaten the entire towns children. Finn is frozen, encased in ice in the local rose garden, yet Bianca can’t find the book anywhere. When she sees a girl from school with the same book, she’s surprised to find out that she didn’t get hers from the library, but from the local market and when she also refuses to let Bianca view the book, and is later found frozen in the park, she realises the book isn’t all it seems.
Bianca sets out on a quest to find out more about the book and unfreeze Finn, but in doing so, endangers herself.

This modern day fairytale (think, The Snow Queen, The Lion,the Witch and the Wardrobe), with a slight Victorian feel and many underlying themes. Its main theme, appears hidden for a large portion of the story, yet its importance is felt throughout, which I feel keeps the reader eagerly turning the page, it is a truly magical, mysterious way to explore the subject of Climate Change. The story teaches readers how important their own role is in protecting the environment to ensure, not just Winter, but all seasons continue and are protected. It’s explored with a strong thread of the importance of family and sibling relationships, friends and how working together can make the changes we need, no matter how small, to protect our world. Bianca, has the heroine, shows us that with persistence, determination and a little help from our friends, we are able to change our own stories and impact on those around us, and wider.
That aside, this is a beautifully written story, that’s perfect for curling up with on a cold night and becoming completely absorbed in. Its descriptive style and stunning illustrations from Penny Neville-Lee, make for an adventurous, magical read that will keep you turning the pages.

Huge Thanks to MacMillan Children’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced read.

When her brother turns to ice, Bianca must find a way to save him. Why did the book that he borrowed from the library disappear when he turned to ice? And why are other children starting to turn to ice each night? Bianca sets out on a dangerous mission to uncover the truth about the strange book and the children turning to ice.

This modern re-telling of The Snow Queen takes the reader on a journey into a fantastical winter wonderland with an underlying message about climate change.

A great book for a key stage two classroom.

A subtly dark and frosty mystery that draws the reader in with its perfectly paced plot and chilling details that are ideally suited for the middle grade reader. I read this title out loud to my children and they begged for extra chapters each evening, the suspense was riveting.

This latest from the excellent and very versatile MG Leonard is one of the best adventures for younger children (7-9 ?) that I have come across in a good while. It is engaging and exciting, whilst still retaining the qualities of a comfort read. It hints at established fairy tales (The Snow Queen, The Selfish Giant) and borrows some traditional figures without simply being a version of something else. It is imaginative and inventive in its own right and has mystery and puzzle-solving as well.. It has a modern feel too and children will readily identify with engaging protagonist Bianca, a pleasingly strong female lead. It has animal interest - always appealing - and pays more than passing homage to the magic of books and libraries, which is a lovely thing. But more than anything its topical environmental them will appeal to today’s children, many of whom are already geared up to its importance, The text is greatly enhanced by Penny Neville-Lee’s charming illustrations., which greatly extend its approachability for young independent readers. Although its winter theme may make it feel particularly appropriate for reading in that season, it would entertain royally at any time, and would also read aloud delightfully..

When five-year old Finn Albedo is found frozen in the park near his home at the beginning of December, adults are bamboozled by how this has happened. Alive but unable to be revived, people can only wonder what is going on. And when more children are found frozen every morning, parents grow increasingly concerned; however, Bianca, Finn's older sister is convinced she knows what is happening and is determined to help Finn and all the other frozen children. A book, a reindeer and a magical winter wonderland hold the answers to her problems, but can she save everyone before it's too late?
I always enjoy MG Leonard's books and love the variety in them, from Beetle Boy, to the Adventures on Trains, not to mention the Twitchers series, and now The Ice Children, a book set in the middle of winter that sparkles and shines. With environmental messages singing from the pages as well as family and love, this is a book that will enchant readers as the nights draw in and the temperature drops. A celebration of winter in all its shimmering glory, The Ice Children will be a perfect family read in the run up to Christmas with a mug of hot chocolate (it felt slightly strange reading it on a sun-bed in the middle of August!). I can't wait to share this in school when it publishes on the 2nd November.

I'm always eager to read a book written by MG Leonard and she has certainly has not disappointed with this latest offering; a magical wintry adventure story that held me spellbound. The opening draws the reader in
Once upon a warm winter, in the dawning darkness of December, a boy was found in the city rose garden. The boy looked like a statue. He was frozen solid.
and what follows is such a brilliantly told story. We join Bianca on a magical adventure as she desperately seeks to discover who or what is leaving children frozen like statues and more importantly the reason why.
This is a wondrous mix of some of my favourite childhood (and even adulthood) reads: Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant, Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen, and Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, interweaved with Maya's unique ability to create something a little different. This is a beautifully imaginative story littered with exquisite detail to magnify the beauty of winter and wonderfully illustrated by Penny Neville-Lee. It is a book that includes a little bit of everything appealing to the inquisitive,the scientist, the poet, the adventurer, the storyteller. Wonderfully creative but with a serious environmental message at its core, The Ice Children is the perfect read whatever the season. A perfect reminder for adults to find the child we once were and remember. This is the perfect read for an independent reader or as a bedtime read to be shared.
'I'm old and new, I am truth and lies,
I’m made from everything and nothing,
I have the power to change the world.
What am I?’
Powerful storytelling at its best.
Huge thank you to NetGalley and the publishers Macmillian Children’s for this early read.

I never fail to be impressed by the variety of MG Leonard’s writing and never really know exactly what type of book I’m about to delve into when I pick up one of her texts. Will it be a mystery? And adventure? Or in this case, a fantasy story? One thing I have come to expect to the ode to nature. Her books are a subtle call to arms for young environmentalists and you cannot fail to be moved by the stories she weaves.

The Ice Children takes inspiration from the likes of Hans Christian Anderson, Oscar Wilde and Carlo Collodi. It’s a modern fairy tale, a story with a moral. It would be a great text to read to a Year 4 class and there would be rich discussion stemming from it.

Why are children turning to ice? Can Bianca save them? Will her message save us? An unforgettable, spell binding novel bursting with magical characters and set in an enchanting wintery world. I loved it and will be recommending it widely.

A really enjoyable festive adventure from M.G. Leonard as children start turning to ice at the beginning of December.

A slow burner of a book which picked up as it progresses. A pertinent read with the environmental aspect - Finn's disappearance linked to a mysterious silver book lends mystery to this heartwarming tale.

Inspired by classic fairytales, M. G. Leonard has written a great contemporary tale with a very important message at its heart. The characters and settings are so well written it is easy for the reader to picture them. The moral is one that every child must come to know - we need The Ice Children to help our world!

“Humans have made the world a place where winter cannot survive.”

Inspired by The Snow Queen, The Selfish Giant and Pinocchio, The Ice Children is a powerful and beautiful modern fairy tale of climate change, sibling devotion and a quest to make the world a better place. M.G. Leonard has created a captivating, frosty mystery with a charming, and quite unusual, cast of characters.

It’s December, before the first frost, and a boy called Finn is found in the city rose garden. In his navy starred pyjamas, his pale skin sparkling with snow crystals, his hair hanging with icicles, he’s frozen yet alive. His sister, Bianca, is determined to find out what’s going on.

She discovers an unusual, silver book that connects Finn with other frozen children. A strange man in a top hat with a triumphant smile leads her towards clues that will reveal the magic of the Ice Children. She’s finding answers but no one will believe her!

“Bianca, books can change what people think, and touch their hearts, but I don’t see how they can freeze a person.”

This is the perfect story to share with children as the nights draw in and winter approaches. Whether as a bedtime story or class read aloud, they will be completely enchanted, transported to a magical, wintery world full of spirit animals and a challenge to protect the winter the world so desperately needs.

Thank you to Macmillan Children’s Books & NetGalleyUK for an early read of this lovely book!

I could not put this book down. I am sure it will be known as a modern classic. Just magnificent. The world M.G Leonard builds in Winterton is magical and I think any child would lose themselves in these pages.

Oh, how I love a book set in winter! Such is The Ice Children which begins “Once upon a warm winter,” so you know already that this is not an ordinary winter’s tale (Is there ever?). Finn, a five-year-old boy, has been transformed into an ice statue, but his heart still beats trapped inside his frozen exterior, beautifully horrific in true fairy tale style, but also a sign for optimism. He is still alive and there still might be a chance to save him and the other children that are beginning to follow him into this icy state. Finn’s older sister Bianca is determined to do just that, and so a fast paced quest ensues.

Bianca meets characters and confronts situations along the way which may remind the reader of other stories they have read. Personally, I love this, and I think children will enjoy the familiarity of the tropes as well as revelling in the quirkiness of some of the characters. Indeed, there is a lovely section at the end of the book where the author acknowledges the sources that have inspired her and the importance of fairy tales not simply as entertainment but as a warning about the world. The importance of the stories we tell ourselves is also integral to the plot. At the same time there is an ever present feeling of danger and time running out, as more and more children are found frozen in the park and the book hurtles towards a winter solstice deadline.

M G Leonard has cleverly and lightly entwined a serious message about climate change into her story, and characters who seem simply villainous and cruel at first are developed when the reasons why they are behaving in this way are revealed. All is not cut and dried, and there is opportunity to empathise with their situation. The book also sparkles with descriptions that capture the beauty and harshness of winter in both the real and the fantasy world, and the simple illustrations are perfect to spark imagination.

The book is not only a thrilling story but a celebration of winter, imagination and the power of love. Adults play a minor role and are generally well meaning. I am glad it features a kindly, helpful librarian, always a bonus! I would recommend for school years 6 or 7, so a great addition to primary or secondary school libraries and Christmas/winter book lists (It doesn’t mention Christmas but the older, more pagan solstice). Definitely to be enjoyed with a mug of hot chocolate and marshmallows, snuggled up in a cosy place on a cold and blustery day.

Very different to MGLeonard’s usual style in many ways but the fantastic writing remains the same. Enormous appeal and a great example of fabulous writing for KS2 level.

I absolutely loved this book. M. G. Leonard came to my school to talk to the children about her Beetle Boy series in 2019 and I remember her telling me about this book back then, it's so clearly a passion project and very dear to her heart and this shines through in the writing. The pitch she gave back then was so intriguing too- that on the 1st December a child is found alive but frozen, in a town park. On the 2nd there are two children and on the third... I'm sure you can see where it's going! This book weaves elements of The Snow Queen and The Very Selfish Giant throughout but in a subtle way. It has all of Leonard's usual fabulous action and plot-driven narrative but with passages of elaborate, beautiful description and a deep sense of pervasive melancholy. It has a strong message about climate change and responsibility but rather than leaving children feeling powerless to do anything I liked the slight flash-forward at the ending showing the children moving into adult lives where they fulfil the promises that they made as children. A beautiful fantasy adventure with a chilly, but beating, heart.

I received an ebook copy of this work free of charge from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I was hooked by the pretty cover
art and stayed for the blurb. I love a good mystery and this seemed to have an original plot idea. Sold!

This is an amazing retelling of several folk tales woven beautifully and seamlessly together. The personifications Jack frost, sleet, hail and The North Wind is brilliantly done. And is something I hadn't seen done before.

And among this is a powerful message about the difference a child can make even in small ways. It reminds us adults that The children we are raising now are the ones who will shape our world tomorrow.

Beautiful story , wonderful message. Brilliant art work through out. A complete joy to read.

This is a must-read story for children and adults of all ages! A wonderful fairytale-esque adventure where we meet brilliant characters such as Jack Frost and The North Wind. Young children are turning up frozen into statues of ice, after reading a silver book and nobody knows why. When one of the children's sisters decides to find out what is going on, she embarks on a dangerous and enlightening adventure. A wonderful story, described beautifully and with one of the most important messages of our time.

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Books and Netgalley for the advance digital copy.
This story was amazing and had me gripped from start to finish. It has many facets: dark fairytale, fantasy mystery, cautionary eco-tale, and empowering coming of age story.
The author took inspiration from The Snow Queen, Pinocchio, and The Selfish Giant, but effectively fashioned her own icy world that will both frighten and delight readers; a perfect read for those dark winter nights that come just before Christmas. Fingers crossed that it will appear on BBC radio, read out in a cold crisp voice with howling wind sound effects and the jangle of piano keys.
It's a story that will hold your attention: sometimes unsettling, and other times whimsical and magical. But that's winter for you, a season of many personalities.
The most beautiful metaphor? Books are shaped as rectangles because doors are rectangles, and what are books if not doorways to other worlds? Brilliant.

While a significant area of Europe is really suffering in record-breaking temperatures, here in the U.K. summer is warmish but nothing to write home about, which is probably par for the course at the start of the school holidays. My thoughts however have very much been on winter over the past couple of days while I read this new title from the incredible M. G. Leonard whose Beetle Boy and Twitch series – which she wrote alone – and Adventures on Trains sequence – co-authored with Sam Sedgeman – are on many readers’ lists of favourites.

While – like her other books – this is another fantastically written adventure, it is so much more than that. Part glorious modern fairy tale, part environmental warning, this is a story to be savoured, re-read and one which I hope the reader will think about very carefully when the last page is turned so that for our children’s sake they too will be able to share it with their own offspring when the time comes.

It is a warm December night when our story opens, within the rose garden of a city where a lost child has been found – a boy who is frozen solid and is standing silently like a statue with his feet embedded in an icy pedestal. As the boy – Finn – is checked over by a doctor and proclaimed to be still alive, his parents and older sister Bianca rush to his side and speak to the police officer present in an attempt to make sense of the situation. A shocked and frustrated Bianca queries why nobody is searching for clues as she believes that his condition must have been caused by someone and takes it upon herself to do just that, finding a poem inscribed into the icy pedestal.

Wondering if the poem is a clue, the following morning Bianca decides to investigate and searches her home for a new library book Finn had borrowed the day before in the hopes it might shed some light on things. When – despite her best efforts – she cannot find it, she visits the library only to find that the library computer shows no such loan. Unable to recall the title of the book, Bianca spends time methodically searching for it but is unable to find it and realising that she will need to come back another time, goes to leave. As she goes to head home, she spots a girl from school with the same book tucked under her arm who runs away when Bianca asks to see it.

When that night the girl from the library is found frozen in addition to one of Bianca’s friends, she starts to wonder if the book is linked to the ice children and when she spies a strange man smiling at the sight of them, decides on impulse to follow him. Finding herself in an old run-down factory, Bianca watches what he does and listens carefully before she returns to her parents. Now sure that the book is connected to the frozen children, Bianca tries to speak up but none of the adults will listen to her. As more and more of the city’s children become frozen, Bianca uses what she has discovered to find her way to a wintry magical world – one which holds the key to restoring Finn and the others to their families. Can she work out how the strange man is linked to what is happening within the city? And can she undo the magic that has enchanted Finn and the others before it is too late for them to turn back?

Readers familiar with Hans Christian Andersen’s classic The Snow Queen will detect echoes of it weaving their way through the text but this is not a retelling of that story, nor is it a sequel or prequel. Rather the author has taken a tiny part of that old favourite and used her quite remarkable talent to create a new fairy tale – one perfect for its 21st Century audience. Bianca is a wonderful heroine – one who recognises her own faults and failings and who is prepared to do everything within her powers not just to restore Finn to her family but all of the affected children to theirs. As her story unfolds, she proves herself to be brave and bold as well as highly intelligent and thoughtful when she realises that she has the power to save winter itself alongside those who have been frozen, sharing a vital message about global warming with young readers in a highly engaging way.

With the action taking place in December, many will consider this to be the perfect read for Christmas and with the hardback edition publishing on November 2nd, there will be lots of delighted youngsters picking this up to read on the big day itself. Having said that, this is not a Christmassy title and will be a year-round favourite for many. Alongside M. G. Leonard’s beautiful story are the gorgeous illustrations of Penny Neville-Lee, which add enormously to the reader’s enjoyment and which I cannot wait to see in a traditional copy of this lovely title which will be enjoyed as a shared read by those in Year 3 upwards.

As always, I am hugely indebted to publisher MacMillan Children’s Books and Net Galley for my advance virtual read.