Available Formats
Ratty's Big Adventure
By (Author) Lara Hawthorne
Illustrated by Lara Hawthorne
Bonnier Books Ltd
Bonnier Books Ltd
6th May 2025
2nd January 2025
United Kingdom
Children
Fiction
Childrens / Teenage fiction: Nature and animal stories
Childrens / Teenage general interest: Wildlife and habitats: Jungles and tropica
Paperback
40
Width 215mm, Height 280mm, Spine 4mm
260g
In this beautifully illustrated picture book from Lara Hawthorne, a mysterious creature from a secluded volcano crater explores the outside world for the very first time . . . but it is not what he expects it to be! Will his adventure teach him there is no place like home
Ratty, an ENORMOUS woolly, vegetarian rat, lives deep inside the crater of an ancient volcano nestled in the rainforest. One day, he spies a particularly delicious-looking fruit high in the treetops, and sets out to reach it. From this vantage point a spectacular view stretches before him - the world outside his mountain crater. In this big outside world, Ratty imagines, the fruit must be much sweeter, the bird songs more beautiful and the other animals far more interesting and sophisticated, and so he sets off in search of better things. But when he is asked to attend a dinner party by a crocodile who seems just a bit too friendly, Ratty realises that perhaps there is no place like home after all.
Inspired by the recent scientific breakthroughs of Mount Bosavi, in which over 40 new species of animals and plants were identified, Lara Hawthorne seamlessly combines story and fact in this picture book which celebrates the diversity of life, and being thankful for what you have!
For fans of the BBC's The Lost Land of the Volcano, with insights from entomologist Dr George McGavin, who was part of the original expedition team.
Lara Hawthorne (Author, Illustrator)
Lara Hawthorne graduated from Falmouth University in 2013. Her first picture book, Herb, was published in 2014 and she was selected to illustrate Carol Ann Duffy's The King of Christmas (Picador, 2016). Inspired by nature, myths and legends, Lara creates wonderful small worlds with her distinct watercolour style. She currently lives in Bristol, UK.