Our Mammoth

The Gumble twins' - Bing (boy) and Saturday (girl) - trip to the sea throws up more than the usual seashore flotsam. To find an iceberg is amazing but an iceberg containing a mammoth, well! The words themselves appear deceptively simple to read but the text has an interesting structure with the storytelling alternating between the twins and the third person. Adrian Mitchell's choice of language - 'we were as scared as skittles . . . Our legs wanted to run away but our heads wanted to stay' - makes it a delight to read. The natural history is accurate but the lessons unforced and Priscilla Lamont's watery style pictures make them all the more enjoyable to learn. Highly recommended for solo readers of six to eight.