The Tale of the Crooked Crab ¦ Bridget and William ¦ Flames in the Forest ¦ Dinner Ladies Don't Count

These Julia Macrae Blackbird books have bright coloured covers and look more like 'real' books than a series. The book are aimed at five to eight-year-olds but the language and story content seem more suitable for the upper end of this range, at least in my school. In Flames in the Forest two boys in India race to escape from a forest fire. The story builds well and there is an exciting climax. Bridget and her pony William live on an isolated northern hill farm. The story of how together they brave the snow to fetch the doctor to pregnant Mum is predictable, but Jane Gardam's telling makes it distinctive and, ironically, difficult for inexperienced readers. In Delia Huddy's story Captain McCorkell takes a holiday, leaving his inept crew in charge of the Crooked Crab. Chaos results. It's good fun and the illustrations are a nice complement. My personal favourite is Dinner Ladies Don't Count, a very believable school story. But does it appeal more to teachers than children? I'd like to hear more children's views on this one. Neither it nor the other Blackbirds caused a particular stir in my classroom. I feel I would have to read them aloud (they are good enough for that) before the children could really get to grips with them. But then that's defeating the object of the series.