Floris Books are well-known and loved for their beautifully-illustrated childrens’ books, and they have another stunner with Little Pearl by Martin Widmark (and illustrated by Emilia Dziubak). It’s a tale of sibling love and adventure with gorgeously-surreal artwork reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland. Let BooksfromScotland introduce you to this magical tale.

Extract and illustrations taken from Little Pearl
By Martin Widmark, illustrated by Emilia Dziubak
Published by Floris Books

Daniel loved it when his parents were out, because Grace came over and told him bedtime stories. Her tales were the most exciting ever.

‘Please…’ he begged, when she was tucking him in, ‘just one more.’

‘OK,’ she agreed, ‘but then you really have to sleep.’

On her finger was a ring with a big pearl. She held it up close, and began: ‘A long time ago, when I was younger than you, when every day was as bright as this pearl, something strange happened to my big brother Tom. At first, all I knew was that he’d disappeared…’

Tom wasn’t just my brother, he was my best friend. We did everything together. He always looked out for me. He carved two wooden flutes: one for me and one for himself. We made up tunes and played together.

And then one day in the middle of winter he was gone. There was no trace, no clue of where he might be. Every night I cried myself to sleep, and dreamed of him and his music.

On a cold, snowy morning, I wanted to escape the sad house. I took my red sledge to Tom’s favourite hill. As I started down the slope, the sledge quickly picked up speed, and soon it was plummeting so fast my tummy tingled. Then it hit a little bump on the hillside.

I flew into the air and the sledge shot off through the trees. I skidded into an icy tunnel, sliding faster and faster until I couldn’t tell up from down.

Little Pearl by Martin Widmark and illustrated by Emilia Dziubak is published by Floris Books, priced £12.99