Millwood Hargrave uses words to paint vibrant pictures of the landscapes featured in “Leila and the Blue Fox”. These details breathe life into each environment, making them more than just a backdrop to the story.

I loved Julia and the Shark, their first collaboration and was, very excited to learn of Leila and the Blue Fox. There is balm for the soul, fire for the belly, a cooling compress for the fevered brow, solace for the wounded, an arm around the lonely shoulder - the whole collection is a matchless compound of hug, tonic and kiss' Stephen FrySometimes only a poem will do. Following Miso’s journey alongside Leila was fascinating and so symbolic as Leila went on a huge emotional journey herself. But as the summer reaches its height, her mother's obsession with the shark threatens to engulf them all. On this journey, Leila comes to terms with some truths about her mother and her life as a refugee in the UK.

It discusses the lasting impact of the conflict that was fled, the routes taken, and detention centres.

Producing another middle grade in the same format with a feel of such a special and collectible series is a celebration of how much creating quality literature for this age range must mean to them both.

Praise for Julia and the Shark:'A tale of courage, understanding and compassion' The Observer'Julia and the Shark is deep, beautiful and true. Again, we have stunning (equally layered) illustrations with the single accent-colour, to bring the story and atmosphere to life. This is a story of outsiders and boundaries, of the environment and man's relation to and similarities with other creatures. This book is beautifully written, and the blending of Leila reflecting back on her past, along with her current adventures with the fox is mesmerising. My reviews of Julia and the Shark and Leila and the Blue Fox, by bestselling author Kiran Millwood Hargrave, whose recent children’s novels explore issues of global warming and environmental damage to wildlife.

Between them, her children's books have won numerous awards including Children's Book of the Year at the British Book Awards, the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, the Historical Association Young Quills Award, and the Blackwell's Children's Book of the Year. For more on how my mental health has affected my writing, please see this piece I wrote for Waterstones. Orion) Leila and the Blue Fox is a sort of sequel to Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Tom de Freston’s Julia and the Shark. I cannot wait to get my hands on the finished product, as I can only imagine how beautiful this book is going to be visually in it's final form.

Leila, a Syrian refugee, lives with family in London and is visiting her mother in the far north of Norway. Leila has experienced the trauma of war, fleeing her home country, as well as the change wrought in her family dynamics.