The Railway Cat's Secret

This is an old-fashioned and successful tale. The Station Master's secret annoys Alfie, the Railway Cat, until Alfie discovers the tramp who has created a garden behind the old railway station. Now Alfie has a secret, too. As the tale unfolds Alfie discovers that Hack, the unpleasant Leading Railman, also has a secret: Hack's secret threatens the tramp's garden. The plot doesn't so much thicken as spread gently. Young readers will enjoy the idea of royalty getting grubby (part of the Station Master's secret), and feel a sense of repletion as all the secret are, by turn, discovered and the problems resolved. Even nasty Hack is treated decently. The illustrations fulfil the simplest requirement for character identification. This is a sober, decent, upright addition to the library or a reading corner in a Lower Junior class.