Stan's Galactic Bug ¦ The Secret of Bone Island ¦ As If by Magic ¦ When I Lived Down Cuckoo Lane

A mixed bunch of brief books gathered together under Hippo's 'Jugglers' label. The first three are based on familiar adventure motifs.

In Stan's Galactic Bug a supercilious alien trapped inside a perilous computer game demands assistance from a harassed schoolboy. But Stan already has to cope with a new home, his dad's teetering career, thugs at school, and criminal complications in his neighbour's love life. Mr Edwards juggles with far too many balls.

The Secret of Bone Island treads ominously familiar ground: three siblings unearth a treasure map and set off to explore a reputedly haunted island. The book conveys an atmosphere of Blyton with extra adjectives, but a couple of clever twists in the plot rescue the story from blandness.

As If by Magic presents the oft-told tale of a dowdy kid with magical powers showing up at school and unleashing sundry forms of comical nemesis. The story is told by a black girl who befriends the witch, and the narrator's lively. comments add a merry counterpoint to the rather predictable plot.

When I Lived Down Cuckoo Lane is of a different genre, being the fond and fragmentary rememberances of a happy childhood. Pets and friendships, illnesses and adventures are recalled in a sequence of short, impressionistic chapters. A gentle, vivid and amusing book.

None of the titles breaks new ground in children's fiction, but all of them provide non-strenuous literary entertainment, and therefore earn their place on the Junior bookshelf.