Hachette/Hodder Children’s Books . ISBN 9781444936230 £6.99
Ooh a super story of imagination, dreams and adventure. As three siblings go off to bed, they moan they are not tired and want one more adventure before bed. Unfortunately, typical of brothers and sisters, they cannot agree, one wanting to seek out pirates and treasure, another hoping for a jungle adventure and the narrator of the story, Ella, has her heart set on a dragon adventure. As luck would have it a hot air balloon passes by picking up the children and whisking them off to far off lands where they do encounter pirates and jungles, unicorns and elves and finally ‘When the sky fills with inky clouds,’ the dragon comes too completing all of the children’s wishes. This debut picture book by Becky Cameron has the potential to become a favourite bedtime read as much for the illustrations as the story itself. The lovely watercolour illustrations have a touch of quirky Quentin Blake about them and include details in them that might be missed on first reading. The sharp eyed amongst you might notice the balloon resembles Ella’s bedspread and that the children’s bedroom features all the different worlds that their adventures take place in. A smashing bedtime read for children.
Jane Macleod