Dragonfly – Firefly Press. ISBN 9781913102104 £5.99
An easy to read, fast paced story for 6-9s.This is the third in a series of books about a boy called Jams and his mischievous monkey called Thimble. It stands alone in its own right but I’m sure once read children will want to read the other two books to find out what other trouble Thimble gets into. What child wouldn’t love a wild weekend with mum away, a crazy monkey and a hapless, pathetic Dad? So if you can’t have one of your own the next best thing is reading about it. The outline of the story is simple – with Mum away Dad has only the thirty pounds Mum gives him to feed themselves for the week. Thimble, as only a monkey could, blows the whole lot on bananas and the rest of the story sees Dad trying to recoup the money but getting into trouble with the police and getting deeper and deeper into debt as the story unfolds. There are lots of laughs with monkey hijinks and a subtle and thoughtful insight into living with having ‘wonky legs’.
Jane Macleod
