Timka and Tinka are two curious mice with a taste for time travel. Their adventures take young readers into prehistoric caves, along the Nile, through the streets of Ancient Rome, and into the towns and castles of medieval Europe.
Children have a job to do: find them. Each illustrated scene hides the mice, their companions, and other people, animals, and objects for readers to spot. As children search, they notice how people dress, what they eat, and what goes on in their homes and workshops. Brief texts explain the details that catch their eye.
These books are toys as well as books. Children can pick one up for a game of hide-and-seek and find themselves reading about Roman water supplies or life in a medieval castle. That movement from playing to wondering to reading is what gives the series its appeal.
Finding a mouse in a busy market takes a careful look. Along the way, children notice the stalls, the goods for sale, and the people at work. The game brings them close enough to the picture to start asking questions.
The texts help them make sense of what they see. An unfamiliar tool has a purpose; a strange-looking building has a story. Short explanations sit alongside the scenes, so readers can move between the picture and the text without losing their place in the game.
Families can use the books in different ways. An adult can read aloud while a child searches, or they can pause together over an interesting detail. Children who are growing more confident as readers can explore the passages on their own. They can start anywhere.
There is also a reason to return after finding Timka and Tinka: the scenes contain everyday activities and historical details to discuss and read about. The same book offers a picture game for one visit and a closer look at life in the past for the next.
Timka and Tinka explore a prehistoric cave and the world around it. They join a mammoth hunt and a gathering expedition, meet a shaman and a cave artist, and discover how the youngest members of the group spend their days. An initiation ceremony introduces another part of community life. The journey ends with the Neolithic Revolution and the changes it brought to the way people lived.
Life beside the Nile keeps the mice busy. They help with the harvest, haggle at a market, visit a school, and learn about Senet, an Egyptian board game. Music and celebrations bring them into the social life of ancient Egypt, while encounters with pharaohs and ordinary farmers show its different households. Scenes of farming and irrigation explain how much depended on the river.
In Rome, the mice meet Mark and Julia and their dog Sirius. Together they explore the Forum, watch an aqueduct take shape, look inside Roman homes, and stop for lunch at a tavern. There is time for the baths, the Colosseum, and the chariot races too. A visit to a military camp takes the story beyond the city and introduces the daily lives of Roman soldiers.
Agatha, Philip, and their donkey Fabio join the mice on their travels through medieval Europe. They visit Charlemagne’s court, a Viking settlement, a monastery, and a lord’s castle, then watch knights compete in a tournament. Elsewhere, craftspeople work in their shops, merchants trade at a Hanseatic port, and townspeople gather for a carnival. The book brings these different lives together in a picture of medieval society.
The search activity gives children an immediate reason to open the book. Parents also have historical content to read and discuss with them. For publishers, that combination offers a clear position between activity books and illustrated nonfiction: a book families can play with and learn from over several visits.
Food, homes, animals, and games give children something familiar to look for in an unfamiliar world. The pictures invite close attention, while brief passages let readers explore the subject a little at a time. This makes the format approachable for children who are still finding their feet with nonfiction.
Each book has its own setting and can introduce readers to the series. Timka and Tinka provide the connection: children who meet them in Egypt can follow them into Rome or the Middle Ages with a game they already know. Publishers can choose the periods that suit their list or offer all four as a history collection.