Hattie and Ben are left to their own devices in London while their parents are busy with work. Absent parents are always a good story device if you want to create heroic children who take on wild adventures and this book is no exception.
Walking through the park the children play a game of I spy. Hattie does not believe Ben when he says he has seen a real lion!
This was clearly no ordinary lion. He hadn’t noticed them, as he was busy performing what Hattie thought must be exercises of some sort. They reminded her of the movements recommended in the magazines her mother sometimes bought. Calisthenics, she thought they were called. The lion would have looked graceful, except that he was dressed in a black tailcoat, with a long slit at the back for his tail to poke through. Under this, he wore a waistcoat and a wine-red cravat, which was like a tie but wider and bulkier, almost a scarf. What spoilt the effect was that he wore nothing at all below his . . . would you call it a waist on a lion? She noticed a very large and glossy top hat lying a few feet away. She supposed the lion must have removed it to stop it falling off while he did . . . well, whatever it was he was doing.
Mr Dandy Paws really is a highwayman. He is determined to end the trade in exotic animals because of his own terrible life experience:
"My earliest childhood was spent in a vast warehouse in a small cage with my mother, almost always in darkness along with hundreds of other creatures ... the warehouse made its money from breeding. Most of its inhabitants were mothers with their young living in hopelessness and misery, until their infants were taken from them and sold."
Young Dandy was sold to Tower Zoo but he managed to escape. Now he lives in a well-appointed apartment with a sheep for a butler and a collection of fine cravats. By night he robs wealthy people to fund his real purpose which is to find and destroy the 'breeders'. Hetty and Ben now join his group and through careful detective work they locate the diabolical couple Mr and Mrs Pravusson who are running this despicable enterprise. All of this feels like a good old-fashioned melodrama and the character names are just perfect - Miss Prudence Postlethwaite (Private investigator); Lord Fossleton (friend to Dandy - a wealthy slightly confused older man); Mr and Mrs Davenport (the distracted parents of Hattie and Ben); Leonard (Butler to Dandy - he is a sheep); and the Vickers-Watlings (owners of an animal menagerie).
You probably know I do judge books by their covers. I saw this book in the library a few months ago but the cover didn't appeal to me. Last week I decided to borrow and read Dandy the Highway Lion and am so glad I did. This is a fun book that will take you on a wild, fanciful romp through the streets of London accompanied by a very well-dressed lion, two daring children, a small sheep and a huge brown bear. All of these disparate characters have one purpose. To find and expose the illegal trade in exotic animals. You will cheer their successes and boo their enemies - just like a good old-fashioned melodrama. This would be a fun book to read in a family for readers aged 9+. If you are sharing this book with readers in your library it would be good to really unpack the cover - notice the lion in fine clothes, the way the two children are dressed in old-fashioned clothes, the park fountain and light, and the tiny (knowing) pigeon in the corner. You could also talk about the colours used in the design - do these give the book an old-fashioned feel? Compare this with other 'old fashioned book covers' such as these:
I was enraptured by this quirky, whirlwind journey of friendship, justice and fighting for freedom. Set in the 1920s London, Sorrell’s voice is distinct, with a quick witted, old-fashioned charm and an element of mischief throughout. Just Imagine
Despite being a fun, roguish adventure, Stephanie's Sorrell's novel tackles big themes. In the same way Dandy sits at the centre of the story, so does animal welfare. Not only does Sorrell hold humans to account over their treatment of wild creatures, she raises a discussion around animals kept in captivity, one that the animal characters contribute to through their voices on the page. Sorrell shows rather than tells, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions on the subject but the result is hugely thought-provoking and there is a great twist at the end. This is magical realism at its best - perfect for adventure lovers, animal lovers and those drawn to the dangerous enigma of highwaymen. Breadcrumb Forest
Read a book extract here.
Bookseller blurb: Lonely after their family moves to London, Ben and Hattie are delighted to find a new friend in the park: a talking lion wearing a top hat, dress suit and red cravat. But not only is Mr Dandy Paws an exceptionally well-dressed feline, but he’s also a highway lion who robs from those who are cruel to animals and invests the proceeds in animal justice. But with a P.I. on his tail, Dandy’s latest scheme—a daring break-out at London Zoo—could get Ben and Hattie into far more trouble than they bargained for ...
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