Giant by Nicola Skinner illustrate by Flavia Sorrentino

Dear Child,

Having a giant as your servant is an honor.

But it is also a big responsibility.

You will be paired with your giant until you turn twelve, when you will kiss them, 

turning them into stone to rebuild our island.

Sadness is not permitted at the Goodbye ceremony.

Remember: they are not your family.

You may feel fondness for your giant, but you must not mistake that for love.

FROM YOUR FRIENDS AT THE

GIANT MANAGEMENT COMPANY

Minnie is different. She lives in a very structured and controlled society. Children are given giants as servants when they are very young and then after years of time spent together, at age 12, the children have to relinquish their giant in a strange and very cruel ceremony. This town is located on an island which is regularly wracked with earthquakes. Humans live on this island, but giants live there too. In the past there have been years of dreadful wars. The humans have now taken over the island and enslaved the giants who are assigned to the children. Other 'bad' giants are forced to live in an inhospitable place on the other side of a high mountain range. Children are warned to never go there because these giants are extremely dangerous. The servant giants are assigned to the children because the Giant Management Company, who control everything, make use of a surprising discovery that if a giant is kissed by a child it turns to stone. Stone is a valuable commodity in this place because it is used to rebuild the town after the regular earthquake events.

Children learn the rules from a young age:

• Giants are your servants not your friends
• You must not love your giant
• Giants must never ask children to keep secrets
• Everyone should be happy at the Goodbye Ceremony. 
• Giants and children cannot stay together forever.
• Never go to the No-Go Mountains

Back to Minnie. She is not pretty. Her parents are poor. In fact she looks quite neglected. She is also very small and in constant pain. Twice each day she has to inject pain medications. Her father is working on ways to predict and stop the earthquakes but the authorities keep rejecting his plans. Oh, and you need to know Minnie has broken several of the rules - especially the one about loving your giant. Her giant is called Speck because she is unusually small for a giant (she is still quite enormous). As the story opens there has been one of the largest earthquakes ever. Minnie is not due to say goodbye to Speck for many months but the town rulers, have ordered all ceremonies to be brought forward to tomorrow. Minnie cannot bear the idea of turning her beloved friend into a stone statue. While playing a game, Speck has shown Minnie a route to safety. Minnie thinks if she runs away, she can delay or even stop the ceremony. Along the way Minnie makes two important new friends - a jackal she names Twist and a young rubbler named Robin. Rubblers are the lowest eschalon of this society. They dig through the rubble and assist with all the town rebuilding. It is back breaking work which even children are forced to do and their lungs are filled with dust and they live in poverty. 

Here are a few text quotes:

"Would future children of the island shudder a little too, when they passed Speck's statue. Would they look up into her stone face and know, or care, that she had looked after Minnie Wadlow, and swum in a lagoon for forty-five glorious stolen minutes. Or would they not even see her, would she just fade into the background, as many of the statues did after a while? How would they know that Speck liked watermelon slices, and broke a plate every day, and had a specially soft voice if Minnie ever cried?"

"Then she gently, put her hand on the top of his head. It was the first time she had ever touched a jackal. She let her hand stay there, and he allowed it. She took in the solidity of his skull, the warmth of his flesh, and the softness of his fur, all at one - all this strength and fragility under her fingers, and she was humbled by what he had done for her, after she had rejected him."

"There's a possibility of survival if you keep going. If you stay, you're going to get crushed. Dad always said, once things start falling, don't wait around hoping things will get better. They won't. Get out when you can."

The journey undertaken by these three is so dangerous and the final showdown and battle with the hunters intent on their capture will leave you reeling. I just raced through the final chapters - 41-53 desperate for that all important happy ending.

Publisher blurb: There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Minnie’s island. Nothing, that is, apart from the earthquakes, which pull buildings and schools and houses down on a regular basis. Luckily, the island’s inhabitants have found a way to fix their crumbling walls: giants. Giants look after human children, like eleven-year-old Minnie. When Minnie turns twelve, she’ll kiss her giant, turning her into a stone statue forever. The stone will be used to repair buildings. And there’s nothing wrong with that either . . . or so Minnie thinks. But when a dreadful earthquake strikes, Minnie realises she’s not quite ready to say goodbye to her giant – not forever – not yet. So Minnie goes on the run, betraying her parents and everyone she knows. The secrets she uncovers on her journey threaten to pull everything down: and so begins a desperate race against time in which she will confront the truth about her island, her giant . . . and ultimately herself.

Despite the playful language and imaginative setting, this book packs some serious punches as Skinner tackles unnerving concepts head on. Providing an undercurrent throughout the plot are the ongoing implications of colonisation and totalitarianism, where in this unequal society giants are forced to live either as servants or are cast out to the No-Go Mountains. ... This may sound rather heavy for a book perfect for the end of Year 4 upwards, but in the big-hearted and wildly inventive hands of Skinner such themes are skilfully and subtly explored. It is love, however, that is the real driving force behind this story – particularly the love story between Minnie and her giant Speck. A mesmerising triumph, this book would enrapture a class as a read-aloud and has enough meaty themes to make a great whole class text. Just Imagine UK

This is a long book with over 390 pages but I almost read the whole story in one day!  YES it is that good. In fact this is going onto my list of top favourites. I expect to see this book on lots of award lists. The paperback is a really good price so I highly recommend you add this book to your library shelves today! Reading this book adults might think of the movie The Help. 

Take a look at all these book covers by Flavia Sorrentino. I am now very keen to read other books by Nicola Skinner.

Starboard Kirkus Star Review; Storm Kirkus Star Review

Summer of the Gypsy Moths by Sara Pennypacker

Due to complex circumstances Stella and Angel find themselves living with Louise. Louise is Stella's great aunt and Stella has been sent there while her mother sorts out her dysfunctional life. Angel is a foster kid and this is her sixth placement. Louise is tough with the girls but she is also quietly very caring. The problem is Stella and Angel are like oil and water - they just cannot seem to get on at all - but that is going to need to change because as the story opens Stella arrives home from school to find Louise has died during the day.

The setting for this story is Cape Cod. Louise lives in a house beside a set of four holiday cottages. It is her job to manage the bookings and clean the cottages all through the summer. Stella dreams that one day soon her mother will arrive. Her mother will be magically transformed into a perfect mom and the three of them can all live happily together. But now Louise has died. Mom is far away. The first summer visitors are about to arrive. Angel has a plan to run away. She has an aunt who is working hard to secure a job and a home for Angel but all of this is taking a long time. 

George Nickerson owns the holiday cottages. In the 1940s his parents set them up. They are completely identical, small and very basic but also perfect for families looking for a summer beach holiday. Stella and Angel have not phoned 911and they do not tell George about Louise. Instead they pretend she is just unwell and over the coming weeks, after burying her body, the two girls take on all the summer holiday cottage chores. 

Stella loves these tasks because she craves order and cleanliness. Angel has absolutely no idea about even the most basic things, even though she is older, because for almost her whole life she has lived in care. Stella, on the other hand, has had to manage money, cooking and washing over all the years she and her mother have moved from place to place. Luckily, Stella also has a special guide book or set of advice columns collected by her beloved grandmother. These clippings from magazines and newspapers are called 'Hints from Heloise'. 

Reading this book you know there will have to be a crisis. Two young girls cannot bury someone in a garden. Surely someone will notice Louise is missing? And George has a dog who seems very interested in the freshly dug pumpkin patch. The food has run out and the shops are many miles away. 

Over the coming days our local Lifeline branch here in Sydney Australia are holding their charity Book Fair. I adore attending these because there are always so many book treasures and the kids books are usually SO cheap! Today I picked up a terrific selection from baby board books, nursery rhymes, picture books, junior novels and a few middle grade titles. Most are destined as presents for various children but a few I purchased just for me. What a discovery - Summer of the Gypsy Moth ($3).

If you are curious about the title - the gypsy moth is an invasive species and one of the battles Stella has to fight is to save Louise's precious blueberries from this leaf eating pest. 

I love the way Stella (and Sara Pennypacker) think about the things that are often missing from books:

"One thing about any books I'd write - you would be reading about the cleaning-up parts of scenes. It drives me crazy how characters are always making messes and then the author doesn't tell about cleaning them up. Everybody eats dinner in books, but nobody does the dishes. People wrestle around in the mud and have accidents with blood, and nobody does the laundry. I just hate that."

I am a huge fan of Sara Pennypacker so when I saw this book - in hardcover, with a dust jacket - I popped it straight into my shopping cart. When I arrived home I had some reading time. I am in the middle of the third book in the Five Realms series by Kieran Larwood but I decided to dip into Summer of the Gypsy Moths first. You may have guessed that I ended up reading the whole book in one sitting.

If you are looking for a terrific book for a reader aged 10+ (and a book for yourself too) try to find Summer of the Gypsy Moths - this is a heart-felt story with tiny touches of humour and fabulous tension that I highly highly recommend. 

As a librarian I’m always on the lookout for good middle grade books I can booktalk to kids. Often you don’t need an exciting cover or title to sell a book to kids. Heck, sometimes you don’t even need to show the book at all. Yet in the case of Sara Pennypacker’s debut middle grade novel Summer of the Gypsy Moths I fully intend to show the cover off. There you see two happy girls on a seashore on a beautiful summer’s day. What could be more idyllic? I’ll show the kids the cover then start right off with, “Doesn’t it look sweet? Yeah. So this is a book about two girls who bury a corpse in their backyard by themselves and don’t tell anyone about it.” BLAMMO! Instant interest. Never mind that the book really is a heartfelt and meaningful story or that the writing is some of the finest you will encounter this year. School Library Journal Betsy Bird

The unfolding story is both deliciously intense and entertaining. Kirkus Star review

This book was first published in 2012 but I looked at an online book seller here in Australia and it seems to still be available but the paperback is AUS$26 so hopefully you might find a copy in a library. Listen to an audio sample which begins in Chapter One. Here is an alternate cover (which I do not like). 

Companion reads:

Recommended by Betsy Bird (SLJ review) 

Love, Aubrey

Waiting for Normal

One for the Murphys

Small Mercies

Missing May

Check out some other books by Sara Pennypacker I have talked about here in the blog. She is such a talented writer:

Pax and Pax Journey Home

Waylon

Sparrow Girl

Leeva at Last

The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo illustrated by Sophie Blackall

A luminous tale of fate, love and the power of words

Beatryce is found in a barn nestling beside a goat. This is not just any goat. Her name is Answelica and she has a reputation as a bossy, belligerent creature who usually butts people out of her way. She also has fierce teeth. The young girl has been found by Brother Edik. He is a monk from the Order of the Chronicles of Sorrowing. Brother Edik is a kind man even though in his own life he has had his own share of suffering. 

Have you ever given much thought the idea of a prophecy. The book called Chronicles of Sorrowing contains prophecies. Some are good and some are bad.  The king has heard this prophecy:

"There will one day come a girl child who will unseat a king and bring about a great change."

If you go back to my quote at the beginning of this post I mentioned the power of words. In the prophecy there are several very important words. Obviously the dangerous character will be a girl but what of the king. The words say "a king".  Who is this king? Is he the rightful monarch?

And why is a girl considered dangerous? What power could she possibly have? Read on my friend.

Back to the story. Beatryce is injured. Answelica will not leave her side so the pair are bought inside the monastery. Brother Edik gently cares for Beatryce and eventually she recovers enough to tell him her name but the rest of her memory is lost for now. Beatryce has no idea how she came to be found at the monastery but there is deeper mystery - the astonishing discovery by Brother Edik, that Beatryce can read and write.

"Only brothers in service to God could read, and also the tutors and scholars who came and studied the prophecies. And counsellors to the king. And the king himself. In the whole of the world ... there was only a handful of people who could read. All of them male. None of them were female. It was against the law to teach a girl to read, or a woman to write."

So the stage is set. Beatryce has a destiny to fulfil. The current king is determined to stop her. Brother Edik will be her travelling companion as will the goat Answelica. Along the way Beatryce will make new friends, a young boy called Jack Dory and an old man called Cannoc, and she will gradually remember all the pieces of her past life. 

Readers will also be given, from time to time, small glimpses into the machinations of the king and his power hungry adviser until eventually we reach their anticipated but also surprising meeting. 

In keeping with the medieval setting, Sophie Blackall has included an illuminated letter at the beginning of each chapter and there is one also hiding under the dust jacket. 

Sophie has designed end papers which are printed on a rich gold background and inside her black and white full page illustrations seems almost cinematic. When you finish reading this book take some time to linger over and marvel at the cover. Beatryce has something to share with you - she's looking straight at the reader inviting you to enter her story. You can read the first 48 pages of this book here. 

"We shall all, in the end, be led to where we belong.

We shall all, in the end, find out way home."

I read that an edition of this book has been released in a special box with a ribbon book mark (it costs over $75 here in Australia but if you are tempted here is the Gift edition ISBN 9781536218671). When ribbons like this are added to a book they make it seem extra special and I think this anticipates the fact the The Beatryce Prophecy is destined to become a Children's Literature classic. I read this book in one sitting. I did not want it to end but when it did I smiled a huge smile because, as usual, Kate DiCamillo has penned a glorious story filled with tiny details which feel like glistening jewels and which are all brought together at the end into one truly special object to treasure.

You MUST listen to this Podcast interview with Kate from The Children's Book Review. 

Here is a quote from the interview:

My outrageous hope … that somebody will feel less alone, that they feel like they’re walking through the world with somebody, and that it will help. The book will help to make some more sense out of the world. Kate DiCamillo

I just loved spending time in that world, even though it’s a world in which lots of bad and dangerous and sad and troubling things happen. There is this light of hope and joy and overcoming obstacles and friendship and love and forgiveness and all of these things that Kate does so beautifully and mesmerizingly ... Sophie Blackall Children's Book Review interview

The story is told in language as clear and beautiful as an illuminated manuscript, with characters who spring instantly to life. The fairy-tale conventions give it a sense of timelessness and omnipresence without once becoming twee or unwieldy. Kirkus Star review

It is, in short, a very good book, worth any kid’s time to read. And that, my dears, is the kind of book that you should probably read too. Betsy Bird School Library Journal

I love it when the book itself shows how important reading is and how important words are, how words and reading connect us to the world and how, ultimately, through education, we can begin to make wiser choices. The Children's Book Review interviewer - Bianca Schulze

A final wise word from Kate about books and reading (one of the important themes of The Beatryce Prophecy):

And the other thing is, having somebody reading to you seems like such an act of love to me. So, I just want to say thank you to everybody who puts a book in somebody else’s hand and everybody who’s reading to somebody. That goes for kids too. I say, when I talk to kids, you can read to the adults in your life. They need it too, you know.

Companion read:

The Book of Boy

You might also like to explore some books involving journeys, young and very brave girls, wise mothers who may be imprisoned, and helpful travelling companions:

The Wolf Wilder

The Forest of Moon and Sword

Fire Girl

Catch me if I fall by Barry Jonsberg

I do enjoy dystopian stories and books that explore the idea of a stratified society and stories with twins have always fascinated me.  One of my favourite books that fits these criteria is Forbidden Memories by Jamila Gavin which is sadly long out of print. This book also made me think again about the book series The Shadow Children by Margaret Peterson Haddix which begins with Among the Hidden. In these books families are limited to two children and it is the third child who must remain hidden.

In the world of Catch me if I fall, families can only have one child unless there are twins:

"Then, about fifty years ago a law was passed that stopped any woman having more than one child."

Barry Jonsberg subtlety presents the reader with clues that we have entered the world of the future - a dystopian future damaged by climate change.

• Electricity blackouts are common as are cyclones
• Other kids in the class are fascinated by the idea of twins
• No one in the class has older brother or sisters
• Permission to play outside at school is determined by the temperature and there is a huge emphasis on applying sunscreen, wearing hats and clothing with long sleeves.
• Cars do not need human drivers
• Ashleigh and Aiden's family are incredibly rich but they grow their own food. In their house there is a library with over 12,000 books; a media room; and a huge temperature controlled swimming pool
• Books by Shaun Tan are considered "old"
• Flights across the country are regularly cancelled due to extreme weather conditions
• Only their school takes the kids to camp and the camp has armed guards and a high security fence

There are strange things going on here. Why are mum and dad so protective of the twins? What does Aiden learn from the wild girl he meets in the park? Why does Aiden need to go to a hospital clinic every few months? 

Here is the publisher blurb:

Ash and Aiden Delatour are identical twins, living a privileged lifestyle with loving parents. In a world that has fallen apart at the seams, they want for nothing. All they have to do is be there for each other, no matter what.  But after Aiden suffers a terrible injury, he isn't the same brother Ash always relied on. Something has changed, and it will lead to a discovery that will turn their whole world upside down. Allen and Unwin

I am listing this book as Young Adult. I do need to give a strong language warning. The publisher lists it as 10-14 but I am going to recommend this book for very mature readers aged 11+. The final scenes of this book are especially powerful and surprising.

Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan

Koly is thirteen. Koly lives in India. Her family are very poor and it is difficult to feed everyone. Even though she is only thirteen her mother (Maa) and her father (Baap) decide it's time for her to be married. They find a boy aged sixteen who will marry her but his family are demanding a large dowry. The family sell all their precious things.  Koly is taken to a village far from her home and on the wedding day she briefly meets her new husband. 

The marriage is a deception. Hari is desperately ill. His parents, who Koly calls sass (mother in-law) and sassur (father in-law) have set up the marriage so they can obtain money from the dowry. They plan to use to take Hari the sacred Ganges River. They hope bathing in the river will heal their son.

Hari has tuberculosis. He does not recover and now Koly is a widow which in India means she has no status and no chance of another marriage. She becomes a slave in the household of her inlaws. Hari's sister Chandra is soon married and moves away. Mr Mehtas dies and so now Koly must endure unkindness and even cruelty that is dished out each day by Sass. After two years of this dreadful existence Mrs Mehtas announces they are moving to Delhi. On the way the train stops in Vrindavan - the city of widows. Koly is betrayed, Sass abandons her. Now she must survive with no money, no friends, and no where to go. Luckily Koly is a resourceful girl and she has skills. She can read and she is very skilled at embroidery. It is these things along with the kindness of strangers and meeting one very special friend that mean this book does contain that all important happy ending.

Homeless Bird is a rich exploration of a different culture. There is an extensive glossary in the back of the book but Gloria Whelan weaves Hindi words so skilfully into the story that I had no need to refer to this. Here are some quotes to give you a flavour of this writing:

"Maa got me up so early ... We went to the courtyard well and drew water to wash my hair. Maa oiled and braided it. She dusted my face with golden turmeric powder, and with a paste of sandalwood and vermilion painted the red tikka mark on my forehead. My eyes were outlined with kohl. My lips and cheeks were rouged. The kautuka, a yellow woolen bridal thread, was fastened around my wrist."

"Even with my bedroll to soften the stone of the doorway, I could not sleep."

"I tried everywhere to find work, but for every job there were a hundred seekers. For a week the doorstep was my home."

"Along the borders of the rich lady's sari were embroidered flurries of blossoms in pale yellows and pinks twined with green leaves. I could not take my eyes from the clever work."

"As I thought of the river, I remembered the heron. I began to stitch its long neck and its head with its sharp beak. I stitched the long danging legs and the great wings. I forgot where I was. ... 'This is what I want (said Mr Das); it is your heron. It has flown right out of your head, and more important, out of your heart."

Homeless bird was published in 2000 but I am happy to report it is still in print. I was lucky to find a sale copy in a local bookshop. Gloria Whelan and I almost share a birthday and she is the author of a very impressive body of work.

I would pair Homeless Bird with Amal Unbound.

I thought I knew the name Gloria Whelan. I now discover she is the author of two (very old) titles from the Stepping Stones series published by Random House. Next Spring an Oriole and Shadow of the Wolf. I read both of these junior novels many years ago.

The Good Thieves by Katherine Rundell

From the first pages I knew I was going to love this book. Vita travels to 1920s New York with her mother. Her beloved grandfather is alone in the world now because his wife, Vita's grandmother, has died. Vita bursts into her grandfathers tiny apartment and he greets her with her nick name - Rapscallion. I adore the ring of that word - here it is again Rapscallion. Vita has a talent and a handicap - perhaps these things balance each other out. Her talent is accurate throwing of small objects such as stones. She can be so precise that right at the start of this book she hits the head of a seagull in flight - not to kill it but to send it away from the young crow it is attacking. Later she throws stones at the mathematical centre of her wardrobe door. She seems to do all of this with ease and we learn she does this because it allows her to think and solve problems. Her disability comes from the polio she contracted as a young child.

"Her left calf was thinner than her right, and her left foot curved in on itself. ... She could run, though it made the muscles pull and burn ... she never breathed a word about that particular pain."

Vita has a very serious problem to solve. Her grandfather used to live in a castle on the Hudson River in New York city but recently a millionaire con man by the name of Victor Sorrotore has swindled Grandpa and he no longer has his castle home. But there is more. Grandpa explains there is an emerald pendant hidden in the castle. It is worth thousands. Vita now knows what to do. She must get inside the castle, find the emerald, present it to Grandpa and he can buy back his castle and his happiness will be restored.

Vita knows what has to be done but she needs help.  She spies two boys outside her window. They are both quite small and she watches in amazement as one jumps right out of a third storey window onto a thin mattress. These boys are circus performers. Vita, Arkday, Samuel and a girl from the streets called Silk form a gang with the purpose of 'stealing' back the emerald but first Vita must deal with Sorrotore.

You need to understand this man is thoroughly evil. He is a gangster. In his office Vita sees two tortoises. They have rubies and diamonds set into their shells spelling out the words Imperium (power) and Vita (life).

"Doesn't it hurt them?" asked Vita."
Sorrotore replies:
"Hurt them? Don't be crazy - they're animals."

I read this book compulsively on a long plane flight and then felt sad, as I do with all fabulous books, that the glorious experience of reading was over. For a few hours I was with Vita. I felt her heartache and her excruciating pain. I held my breath each time she encountered Sorrotore and I cheered at the wonderful team work and loyalty of her friends as they race to retrieve the emerald.

Something you need to know about Katherine Rundell. She likes to truly experience the activities and actions of her characters. She once ate a tarantula so she could accurately describe the taste for her book The Explorer. For this book, The Good Thieves, she wanted to know about tight-rope walking. At the Sydney Writers Festival this year she told her young audience how she has broken 'all' her toes trying to walk across a rope in her own living room. I remembered author Michelle Paver talked about this same idea at an event I attended in 2000. Michelle talked about her series The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness. For her books, Michelle swam with killer whales and she learned to skin and dismember elk and reindeer not wasting any part of the beast - a skill vital to the survival of the Inuit people. These stories, which show a true passion for authenticity by Katherine and Michelle, just captivate me.

I absolutely adore the writing of Katherine Rundell.  A few days ago our ABC Radio National included an interview with Katherine where she talked about why adults should be reading children's books. Of course she said all the things I believe but far more eloquently. Listen here from 43 minutes into the 57 minute program. I love that she mentions A Wizard of Earthsea.

Talking about Children's Literature here some of Katherine's words from this interview:

"A casket of wonders" "galvanic kick that can change your life" "precision of language" "distillation" "condense your writing into something sharp" "a bright bold way to think about the things that are most important to us"

Here is hardcover edition of The Good Thieves:

You can listen to an audio sample here from page 5 until the early in Chapter Two. In this video Katherine reads an extract which really demonstrates the way this story is so action packed. This book reminded me of The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo and The Billionaires Curse by Richard Newsome. You might also look for The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke and an older Australian title The Remarkable Secret of Aurelie Bonhoffen by Deb Abela.

Click on each of these quotes for more plot details of The Good Thieves.

Narrow squeaks aplenty combine with bursts of lyrical prose for a satisfying adventure. Kirkus

There are twists and turns but not a page is wasted. Fabulous, interesting and genuine characters paired with a clever edge-of-your seat plot make this one a cracker!  Readings Melbourne

As always, Rundell’s writing is swift and breathless, propelling the reader through the text like a glider through air, swooping and diving in and out of the plot, with short paragraphs and snippy dialogue. She uses simile and metaphor with the precision of a knife thrower. She cuts through excess, landing each word with specificity and wisdom. Minerva Reads


Other books by Katherine Rundell I have mentioned in this blog:

• Rooftoppers
• Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms
• The Explorer
• The Wolf Wilder

Mr. Penguin and the lost Treasure by Alex T Smith

Full of fish-finger sandwiches, secret jungles, nefarious plots and cryptic codes, it’s addictive slapstick, with Smith’s appealingly arch black, white and orange illustrations. The Guardian

This is quite a new book - the paperback edition was published this year.  I have loved Alex T Smith ever since he introduced me to Claude. The Mr Penguin series are a little longer but once again we have a special sidekick to assist our hero.

Mr Penguin is down on his luck and down to his last fish finger sandwich. He places an advertisement in the newspaper offering his services as an adventurer and solver of mysteries.

Mr Penguin gets into work on time at 9am thinking "that today his telephone would be ringing its head off from the moment he flipped the CLOSED sign on his office door over to OPEN ... but this hadn't been the case at all. His telephone had sat tight-lipped and silent."

When the phone finally does ring it sounds like the perfect adventure for Mr Penguin and his side-kick Colin.  I just need to talk a little about the wonderful Colin. He is a spider. He uses a notebook to communicate IN CAPITAL LETTERS. Colin is a loyal friend to Mr Penguin and has a most useful skill of kung fu. Mr Penguin has another special friend - Edith Hedge "who lived in the park and fed the birds. (she was) wearing fifteen different anoraks, one of top of the other, belted at the waist with a large bum bag. Sitting on top of her head was a pigeon. He was called Gordon."

Boudicca Bones, director of the Museum of Extraordinary Objects. The museum is in desperate need of funds for urgent repairs and there is a possibility that the original founder of the museum Sir Randolph Bones may have hidden some treasure somewhere in this vast museum. Mr Penguin and Colin arrive at the museum and Miss Bones and her gigantic brother Montague outline the problem, share the clues they have found so far and even produce a useful map - X marks the spot!

Of course things are not quite straightforward. As a reader you may be suspicious of this Miss Bones and her odd brother but Mr Penguin is determined to solve this case so he can boost his finances and get home to eat his packed lunch of a precious fish finger sandwich.

This romp has twenty three very short chapters presented over 203 pages of large print often on coloured paper. This story just zooms along. I read over 100 pages with out pausing. This book is perfect for newly independent readers. As a guide if your child has enjoyed The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey this series featuring Mr Penguin would be the perfect next book.

You could also look for some other slap-stick style detective stories
High Rise Private Eye
Detective Donut and the Wild Goose Chase by Bruce Whatley (sadly out of print but hopefully in your local library)
Detective Gordon series
Timmy Failure series
Pip Street series

Good news there is a sequel to Mr Penguin and the lost treasure which will be published later this year.