The Twin Giants

by Dick King-Smith, Mini Grey (Illustrator)

When twin giants set out in search of happiness, the result is a comedy of errors that is doubly clever and enormously funny.

"Isn’t he e-nor-mous!" says the giant father when his first twin son is born. "There’s a-lot-uv-’im!" notes the giant mother when the second twin boy arrives. And as Normus (a vegetarian) and Lottavim (a carnivore) grow and grow, the two are hugely happy — playing Roll the Boulder, singing badly, and doing everything together. But when the day comes for the hulking lads to seek the giantesses of their dreams, will going their separate ways only lead them into double trouble?

Genres: Fantasy, Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Family, Fiction, Juvenile

80 pages, Hardcover

Published June 10, 2008

About the author

Dick King-Smith was born and raised in Gloucestershire, England, surrounded by pet animals. After twenty years as a farmer, he turned to teaching and then to writing children's books.

Dick writes mostly about animals: farmyard fantasy, as he likes to call it, often about pigs, his special favorites. He enjoys writing for children, meeting the children who read his books, and knowing that they get enjoyment from what he does.

Among his well-loved books is Babe, The Gallant Pig, which was recently made into a major motion picture, and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Dick lived with his wife in a small 17th-century cottage, about three miles from the house where he was born.

Reviews

[Kaethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked it up for Grey's art, although I am good with the King-Smith books I've read, they hold less of a draw. As it is I found myself worrying about the sustainability of this giant population. Loved the art.

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's really not much of a story here, though Grey's artwork is always fun and worth a look. One of these stars belongs entirely to her.

[Stuart · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Twin Giants by Dick King-Smith has some fantastic illustrations but unfortunately a rather thin plot. In short the story is about two twins that set off to find wives, their relationship and the people they encounter along the way.

To demonstrate the fact that twins look the same but are different people one of the giants is a meat eater and the other is a vegetarian. This short summary is close to the full story but the illustrations really carry the book. This is a bit of a shame because with more development of the story, and more events and characters, this could have been verging on a modern-day fairy tale.

That said KS1 children will love the pictures and children generally love twins so this will provoke an inherent curiosity in many. The meat eater/ vegetarian distinction may be a good way to discuss different foods and teach younger children about different types of vegetables or where meat comes from perhaps. A possible geography lesson idea could be to draw a map of the route the giants took with the mountains and people marked on it or for more advanced children to describe the route.

This is a beautifully illustrated book which will appeal to many younger children but unfortunately lacks substance.

[Gwen the Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

There once lived twin giant brothers, Lottavim and Normus. They had a happy live on their mountainside, but soon grew older and wanted to find wives. Of course, they wanted giant wives, and so they had to go out on a quest to find pretty giants living on other mountains. The problem with looking for wives together? Whenever they found one giantess, they would BOTH propose to her! Soon the brothers had to split up. Would they ever find wives? Could they live happily ever after? Find out in this fun and silly fairy tale. Mini Grey's colorful and humorous illustrations perfectly compliment the story.

This is the perfect novel for those readers just getting in to "chapter" books.

[Carissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twin giants go hunting for the perfect wives. This one had some rather "adult" plot lines (going to find a wife, for instance) that I'm not sure kids can relate to and i'm not certain how i feel about furthering the notion of "love at first sight" but then again, i'm a huge fan of fairytales, so perhaps i'm being hypocritical. This story was funny, had colorful and entertaining illustrations and was a good introduction to classic fairytale structure.

[heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the look of the book. Size, font etc. the story is simple, although not sure why kids would care about giants looking for wives.but hey isn't that what most fairy tales are about?

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, easy chapter book. Not as good as Babe.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing of substance, at least that I could see, but fun enough. I bet I would have liked it better when I was a child and willing to embrace the silly.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought the story was very sweet. I thought the names Lottavim and Normus to be very amusing.

[Yasmin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pity there wasn't more to the story but it's quite amusing and the illustrations are very well done.

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it with my 5 year old. It’s really cute fans bizarre. Plus my son loves the idea of marriage so it was fun.

[Hannah Grosse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. It got a little cheesy at times, and some parts were over-explained. there were a few details included that, although seemed sort of relevant, they essentially added nothing to the story. however, there were only a few moments like this, and the rest of the book was pretty good. The part in the middle with the two giantesses, the one a vegetarian and the other a carnivore, in my opinion was a great addition to the story. I was expecting right until the end that they would go back and show themselves as twins to those girls and marry them. It was a pretty good plot twist when they found Georgie. Also I liked the parts where the town would be mentioned briefly, given sort of an "innocent victim" role in the story. It made the tale as a whole seem more like one of the wive's tales of old, which was cool!

[Carmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute, pretty much devoid of plot, great illustrations by Mini Grey. Once upon a time there were two Giants. They were twins. Once was vegetarian, the other wasn't. Both terrorized the villagers below (no resolution on this point) even though they don't really seem like the type of giant to do any terrorizing. One day they decide to get married. Both fall for the same girl. Luckily she had a twin sister. Happily ever after the end.

[Sherry]

Dick King-Smith's "The Twin Giants", illustrated by Mini Grey, is a delight for the eyes. Colorful, larger than life, and cheerfully drawn characters and scenery make this simple chapter book a success. I am less impressed with the storyline, wanting something more, but young children, impressed by all things twin, will find it interesting. King-Smith is the author of "Babe: The Gallant Pig". For readers aged 5-8.

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 3 out of 5]

I checked this book out at the library to see if it was a book I could read at school. It's always a happy occasion when I find that it is a book that I can actually use at school. It's even better when its a book I actually enjoyed myself.

The storyline is very cute (if not predictable) with very fun illustrations. The large font with big spaces makes the book seem less daunting to children.

Happy to add this to my "to use at school" pile.

[Heather Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Illustrations = fantastic. The story = not great for a feminist mother of twins. My twins liked it enough to leave their own books and join their little brother while I was reading it aloud to them. I love the notion of seven mountains, but the lessons about "love" are ridiculous. So glad I used a library card rather than a credit card for this one.

[A · Rating 3 out of 5]

J Story of twin giants who are looking for wives. They do giant things like, play giant games, give giant hugs, etc. The giantess wives they find turn out to be twins, and they have twin giant babies. All very predictable, but fun read for a beginning reader (has approximately 3 chapters, larger print, widely spaced - like an easy reader). Also very fun pictures.

[Alexandria Hiam · Rating 3 out of 5]

J Story of twin giants who are looking for wives. They do giant things like, play giant games, give giant hugs, etc. The giantess wives they find turn out to be twins, and they have twin giant babies. All very predictable, but fun read for a beginning reader (has approximately 3 chapters, larger print, widely spaced - like an easy reader). Also very fun pictures.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an ok story about 2 giant brothers and their quest to find wives. It wasn't the usual Dick King-Smith animal story. I enjoyed the cute, humorous illustrations by Mini Grey, actually, better than I did the story. Not one of his best, but nice.

[Gaby · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice tale about two twin giants out to find wives. A quick pleasant read. I found that I enjoyed the illustrations most as they were expressive yet simple. Would suit grades 2-4. A brief read aloud option.

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much as I like Dick King-Smith, this one doesn't do much for me. That being said, the illustrations are delightful, but the story leaves something to be desired.

[Susan Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. Good for younger readers. Twin giants decide to go look for wives - and happen to find a beautiful pair of twin sisters to marry them. Whimsical illustrations make this book a fun read.

[Jo Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Dick King-Smith's writing style and clever story lines. The illustrations are fun.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun early chapter book! Also a great read aloud with many opportunities for a young listener to speculate on what happens next.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet little tale with nice pictures.

[Tobinsfavorite · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is short and sweet, and I liked it. The illustrations are friendly. I'd say this is either an early reader or read-to-nonreader book. Fortuitously, I have one of each of those.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two giants search for wives.

Reasonable story for children - some of the illustrations were good.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A somewhat long story about a pair of twin giant boys and their quest to find wives.

Mini Grey (of Traction Man fame) did the illustrations and they are delightful.

[Richard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really repetitive and boring. Writing every sentence twice, just because it's about twins isn't clever, it's just annoying and lazy writing. Avoid at all costs!

[Debbie Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun quick read from the master story teller. would suit middle primary students who are exploring chapter books.