One of my favourite children's books is 'Journey to the River Sea' by Eva Ibbotson, so this follow on by Emma Carroll is a complete treat!

The children Maia and Finn have now grown up and have children of their own, but the story starts with Rosa Sweetman who has arrived in the UK by Kindertransport in 1946.

She's spent the war at Westwood, a country estate in the north of England where, in addition to the evacuees this is also a refuge for exotic animals, saved from a nearby zoo.

When the war ends, Rosa longs to be reunited with her family but instead is given an opportunity to travel with Yara Fielding on an expedition to find the giant sloth in the Amazon rainforest.

Here Rosa finds danger and adventure, friendship and family in this fantastic story which is beautifully written and unputdownable. I didn't want to leave the characters at the end. A wonderful book!