Children’s author Charlotte Guillain has always been fascinated by mountains and travelling, which would explain why her latest book features her favourite subject.
World of Wonder: Mountains, published later this month, takes the reader around the world on a tour of the planet’s alpine landscapes and snowy peaks and we have three copies to giveaway to three lucky winners.
Head to the sky-high Himalayas and then on to fiery Iceland and the peaks of the Alps before soaring high in the Andes. See some of the incredible animals and plants that live in various mountain ranges, learn about volcanoes, waterfalls and glaciers and find out how these incredible landscapes formed.
Written in a lyrical style and beautifully illustrated by Chris Madden, it’s a picture book to pore over and absorb. The author also gently introduces the effects of climate change on the world’s mountains and encourages the reader to help protect them.
Charlotte says, “It was really important to me not to shy away from the problems mountains face due to a warming climate. Most young readers are already very well-informed and need honesty and practical suggestions to help make a positive change.”
“So it was striking that the Himalayas could be seen from India for the first time in 30 years during the pandemic due to the lack of pollution – it shows us starkly how changes we make can directly affect these beautiful places,” she says of her inspiration.
So why mountains? “I’m sure plenty of people in lockdown have fantasised about travelling to other parts of the world. Now it feels harder than ever to visit other places, and many of us must be craving strange and striking landscapes more than ever,” Charlotte says.
Charlotte is no different. Having always lived in fairly flat places, currently Woodstock in Oxfordshire, she’s always been drawn to mountains and found them awe-inspiring places to explore.
“I’m fascinated by mountains,” says Charlotte. “I’ve been lucky to roam around the Alps and the Canadian Rockies but would love to visit more mountain ranges and see volcanoes in Iceland or Hawaii.”
Instead, the author of The Street Beneath My Feet and The Skies Above My Eyes jumped at the chance when she was asked to write her latest non-fiction book for children on this very subject.
“I hope now that we’ve been forced to limit ourselves to journeys in our imaginations rather than in reality, young readers will embrace the opportunity this book offers to head off on their own virtual adventures and still enjoy exploring parts of the world that might feel out of reach,” Charlotte adds.
To enter our competition for one of the three copies just like follow, share and nominate our posts on social media to enter. All competition T&Cs can be found at http://551.326.mywebsitetransfer.com/ox-in-a-box-competition-terms-and-conditions/
Entrants must live in the UK. The winner will be chosen on Sunday July 12 at midnight and contacted soon afterwards.
World of Wonder: Mountains is being published by Quarto on 21 July 2020.
Available from your local independent bookshop, Blackwells, Waterstones or Amazon.
