book cover

Torla & Smorla and the Lower than Average Cloud

by Kes Gray, illustrated by Chris Jevons

Interest age: 4 to 5

Published by Happy Yak, 2024

  • Adventure
  • Funny
  • Picture books

About this book

Torla is a taller-than-average giraffe who loves nothing more than spending time with her best friend Smorla, a smaller-than-average giraffe. One day, the pair set off on a longer-than-average walk, but Torla can’t see where she’s going, as her head is stuck in a lower-than-average cloud.  

Thankfully, Smorla is happy to take the lead and carefully guides Torla around a series of obstacles. As young readers accompany the giraffes on their journey, they will encounter lots of comical characters, including a sunbathing elephant, a pair of bingo-playing hippos, and a trio of dancing flamingos. All the while, the cloud covering Torla’s head is changing from white to grey to black, until a downpour threatens to soak them both.  

This delightful picture book celebrates trust, kindness and friendship. Each page features brightly coloured, cheerful artwork, which is full of humour and contains plenty of fun details to explore. The long, thin format of the book emphasises Torla’s lofty stature and some of the pages have flaps to unfold, creating even more interest.

The size comparisons throughout the tale will help young children to grasp the concept of relative size, a key milestone in the development of their early measurement skills.

About the author

Kes Gray is the author of loads of belove children's books in the UK. He was noted by the Independent as one of the top ten children's authors in the UK in 2003. He is the author of the bestselling Daisy books, including the award-winning Eat Your Peas, and Billy Bucket was winner of the Red House Children's Book Award for Younger Readers.

More books like this

Lists of recommended reads

Share this page Twitter Facebook LinkedIn