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Lantern Path Books
Oliver and the Old Map - picture book cover by Lantern Path Books.

Book Four of the Oliver Series

Oliver and the Old Map

A gentle little adventure about curiosity and small brave steps. Ages 2 to 5, made to be read aloud.

24 pages paperback ages 2–5

Oliver finds an old map in a drawer. It's faded, folded, and doesn't match any road he knows. But the lines on the map go somewhere, and the only way to find out is to follow them.

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About the book

Oliver and the Old Map starts with a book and something tucked inside it. The library is warm and quiet, Oliver turns to a new page, and there is a map. Not a map of anywhere he knows. He shows it to Hazel, whose ears tip forward, and she wants to come too.

So they follow it. Through the meadow, past the parts they recognise and into the parts they do not, all the way to a hollow tree that turns out to be somebody’s home. Inside is the map-maker who left it there in the first place, for whoever found the book next, along with a brass bell and a tiny library of books smaller than an owl’s wing.

The bell is a gift. Ring it when you read. The two of them walk home through the meadow with the bell tinkling softly between them, and the map becomes a memory, and the bell sits on the shelf.

This is a gentle picture book about curiosity and about being the sort of person who follows the thread to see where it leads. It is also, quietly, a book about reading: about the things left inside books for the next person, and about a small library being a large world.

For ages 2–5. Paperback, 24 pages. Reads aloud in about 6–8 minutes. A favourite of children who like to ask “where does this lead?” The walk begins in Oliver and the Lantern Path, where Oliver first steps out into the meadow.

A note from the author

This book is for the kids who notice the dog-eared corner of a drawer, or the loose floorboard, or the path you can almost see through the trees. Curiosity is its own kind of bravery.

Andrew

For educators

For reading guides and bundle pricing (5+ copies) for schools or libraries, please get in touch or see the educators page.

  • Independent Australian publisher
  • Human-curated, human-approved art
  • Free printable, read it before you buy
  • No data collected from children

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