It all started with The Geography Collective in 2008, and Mission:Explore is about to be released into the wild:

“For all our sakes we need more children falling off branches, getting lost in forests and getting stuck inside trees. The message is simple; it is more risky not to go into the woods. It is dangerous for not only the health of the individual but the world.

Recently the media has been wrapped up in a blanket of stories about cotton-wool kids.”

This was the beginning of a fascinating blog post on the Stanfords Bookstore website, written by Daniel Raven-Ellison of The Geography Collective. You can read the entire blog here: http://www.stanfords.co.uk/articles/blog/the-geography-collective-get-lost-kids,229,AR.html

And please pre-order your copy/ies of MIssion:Explore off these pages as well. For every two you buy a third copy WILL be donated to kids who can’t afford their own copy.

The Shell Chester Literature Festival is in its 21st year, and they have invited one of our authors, the fantastic Alastair Humphreys, to give a talk. As well as being the author of three books, Al is a talented speaker, with the President of the Royal Geographical Society saying, “with the possible exception of Sir David Attenborough, that was the best lecture, and the longest applause that I have heard in the past 15 years.”

You can check out Al’s blog, read about his cycling adventures by reading Moods of Future Joys and Thunder & Sunshine, or read about the wisdom he gained on his journey by reading Ten Lessons From the Road. Buy by using the buttons below.

‘Oscar Grillo cannot draw a line without it spitting and spiralling into a storm of expressive features and skittering bodies. He IS a tempest, and this adaptation captures the energy and fury of a Globe first-night performance back in the day.’

Dave McKean

The Page become the Stage with Oscar Grillo’s powerful and engaging interpretation of The Tempest to be published 19th June. The fifth book in our Graphic Shakespeare range, Oscar Grillo’s version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest will re-define the genre with its quality of illustration. This version has the full text; nothing has been added, nothing has been taken away, none of Shakespeare’s poetic verse has been dumbed-down. Grillo’s spectacular and quirky illustration is not merely illustrative, but interpretive. This inventive re-imagining of one of Shakepeare’s finest plays is a must-have for any literature or graphic novel enthusiast.

As one of Shakespeare’s more fantastical plays, The Tempest has been notoriously difficult to produce on stage. With their associated elements of magic, the monstrous Caliban, the fairy Ariel and his master Prospero demand a more fluid medium if they are to truly reflect the imagination of their creator.

Oscar Grillo now joins the ranks of famous directors as he turns the page into the stage with his graphic interpretation of what is thought to be Shakespeare’s last – and for many, most compelling – play.

Using colour and innovative use of shading, award-winning animator, Grillo brings the characters to life with great humour, pathos and persuasion on Prospero’s mystical island.

The Cycling Touring and Campaigning (CTC) magazine, Cycle, has published a review of 50 Quirky Bike Rides by Eye Books author Rob Ainsley.

A bit like Dr Who’s Tardis, this slim paperback conceals a cavernous interior, with copious facts about unusual biking experiences all over England and Wales. Each ride includes a ‘snackstop’, a ‘bevvy break’, a tourist tick list (making sightseeing a doddle) and details of further information sources. Yet more icing on the cake comes in the form of a dedicated website with maps of all the routes shown. The book will interest a whole spectrum of riders, from casual pootlers to dedicated cycle tourers. A great book.

Visit Rob’s website here.