By Kate Winter
Penguin, Hardback, £14.99
The Cave Explorer is a beautiful picture book with fold out pages featuring amazing illustrations of the Lascaux cave paintings of 20,000 years ago. It is an excellent book for everyone, not just children – I’ve already bought for an adult who has visited the caves, and I’m certain to buy it for others for Christmas.
The book is inspired by a true story. Teenager Marcel and his dog Robot rediscovered the paintings while living under occupation in France in 1940. After he and his friends showed the paintings of animals to their history teacher, the story became a global sensation.
This thoughtful book gives details of ancient painting techniques, historical context, other archaeological finds and more. Educational with a light touch, it lends itself to rereading and savouring.
This is a strong follow up to Winter’s excellent The Fossil Hunter, which won the 2024 Klaus Flugger Prize. That it has a great dog in it is just a bonus.
Review by Bethan