Small Knight and George and the Royal Chocolate Cake, by Ronda Armitage

A small knight and his even smaller pet dragon, George, live in an old castle. One day a letter arrives from the king, saying that he and the queen will be visiting and would like a party to be arranged. He particularly requests that Big Cook make her special chocolate cake.

Everyone begins to make preparations, with Small Knight and George distributing the invitations. Soon the chocolate cake is ready, and it is huge. However, the delicious smell wafting from it reaches the wild brigands in the dark woods. Indignant that they have not been invited to the party, they creep into the castle in the middle of the night and steal the cake.

Dad Knight orders Small Knight to go in search of the brigands and bring back the cake. Small Knight doesn't feel in the least bit brave, but his love of chocolate cake spurs him on. With George behind him on his horse, he sets off to the wild woods, singing a song. After a while he encounters the band of brigands who declare themselves to be very wild and very hungry. Small Knight bravely shouts at them to leave the cake alone. He cleverly tells them that if they behave, they can come to the party. His idea miraculously works, so that cake is taken back to the palace and the spruced up brigands are allowed at the party. When they have eaten their fill, everyone plays kick-a-ball.

'Small Knight and George and the Royal Chocolate Cake' starts off seeming rather traditional in many ways, but stands out because Small Knight achieved his aim not by fighting but by being friendly and generous towards the brigands. I was at pains to stress this concept to a group of four-year-old children and suggested that they might learn a thing or two from Small Knight's methods, but I think I was being over-optimistic. Perhaps the story needed to be read a few more times to drum the message home. Ronda Armitage is, nevertheless, to be commended for depicting such friendly, peace-loving characters.

There is slightly more text per page than some picture books, but the font is large and the background is always white for the story itself. The letter from the king appears on a pale yellow scroll in handwriting which is easy to read as it is not cursive. There are a few words and phrases that are set in a large font for emphasis, and coloured speech bubbles are interestingly used when Dad and Mum Knight and Big Cook are watching out for the brigands just before the party. The flavour of a medieval manuscript is suggested by a particularly large first letter decorated by George on many pages. Adults might appreciate this detail more than young children. The vocabulary is fairly straightforward, although understandably there seemed to be just one four-year-old boy in my group who knew what a portcullis was. This is definitely a story to be read aloud rather than a book for a child who is learning to read.

The illustrations for 'Small Knight and George and the Royal Chocolate Cake' are by Arthur Robins.

They are full of humour and in a style that will appeal readily to young children. Apart from the first picture of the wild brigands hiding in the woods, they are all very bright and colourful. The fact that they are not my favourite picture-book illustrations is almost bound to be a good sign; I'm too old to appreciate what today's pre-school children are likely to enjoy most.

I am always on the lookout for picture books that can be used as a basis for a drama session, and 'Small Knight and George and the Royal Chocolate Cake' proved to be ideal. Most young children enjoy pretending to be wild brigands and eating chocolate cake at parties. It would probably work well even with quite a large group that need a lively activity.

This is a book that might appeal more to boys than to girls, but the fun illustrations and imaginative story should make it one worth at least borrowing from the library to read to any young child. I particularly liked Ronda Armitage's idea of inviting the brigands to the party rather than fighting against them, so I would recommend adding it to any children's library on that basis alone.

Small Knight and George and the Royal Chocolate Cake

Ronda Armitage (author), Arthur Robins (illustrator)

Paperback, 32 pages

Orchard Books, 2009

ISBN 9781846169137

Price £5.99 (Amazon £4.19)

Winnie's Midnight Dragon

I have long been a fan of Valerie Thomas's delightful tales of Winnie the Witch and her beloved cat Wilbur, as well as Korky Paul's hilarious illustrations. On a recent visit to the library, I was surprised to find Winnie's Midnight Dragon, which had up until then escaped my attention.

The story begins with Winnie going to bed as the clock strikes midnight; Wilbur is of course curled up in his basket at the foot of the bed. His slumbers are, however, soon disturbed by a strange noise in the garden and he goes to the cat flap to investigate. Poor Wilbur is terrified to see a baby dragon's nose poking through and puffing out smoke. As the dragon makes his way in, Wilbur turns backward somersaults and runs away. Unfortunately, the baby dragon sees this as a game and chases Wilbur, causing the grandfather clock to wobble and a suit of armour to crash down the stairs.

Wilbur wakes Winnie up and she is horrified to find her broomstick on fire. She has to use her magic fast, but the first spell goes wrong and the little dragon breathes out butterflies instead of smoke. More chasing ensues, and Winnie's belongings are smashing and crashing. Winnie, at the end of her tether, goes up onto the roof to call for the dragon's mother, but first she must magic an enormous moon to provide enough light for the baby to be seen. All ends well, and Winnie and Wilbur are eventually able to get back to bed as the day dawns.

The story is full of fun and certainly lives up to expectations. It is of course intended as a read-aloud book. Most pages feature just a few lines of text superimposed on the illustrations. Wherever possible, the text appears on a light coloured background, but in one or two cases the background is grey, purple or orange. I personally had no problem reading these pages. The font itself is quite large and clear, and whenever the word 'Abracadabra!' is used it is set in a larger font that has the appearance of a hand-written word. This could be an interesting book for a confident young reader to tackle alone, especially as the story is such fun and the illustrations are full of humour.

Korky Paul lets his imagination run riot when he illustrates Valerie Thomas's stories. Winnie has hairy legs half covered by yellow and orange striped socks under her pointed blue slippers. Wilbur is a sight to behold as he jumps in fright and runs away from the baby dragon, yelling and wide-eyed. The little dragon has a toothy grin and seems oblivious to the havoc he is creating as he goes after the butterflies. Some of the pages are predominantly in grey and purple hues as the story takes place at night, but things are brightened up by the orangey-yellow dragon as well as Winnie's patterned accessories and the colourful butterflies. Not to be forgotten, of course, are the charming illustrations for the front endpapers by Katherine Guo as well as for the back endpapers by Fabienne Derk; both were ten-years-old at the time.

I read this to a small group of four-year-old children who then had great fun acting out the story. They were able to exaggerate Wilbur's cries of 'Meeoww!' and shout out 'Abracadabra!' each time Winnie cast a spell. The part of the baby dragon is also highly amusing as he spends most of his time chasing either Wilbur or the butterflies.

The tales of Winnie the Witch never disappoint, and Winnie's Midnight Dragon is no exception. I would wholeheartedly recommend this as a picture book to read aloud to children from the age of about three, and because of the humour involved, up to perhaps six or seven. Definitely one to borrow from the library, but also an idea for a gift which I am sure would be appreciated.

Winnie's Midnight Dragon

by Valerie Thomas (author) and Korky Paul (illustrator)

Paperback, 32 pages

Oxford University Press, 2007

ISBN 019279101X

Price £5.99 (Amazon £4.99)