Red Eyes at Night

On flicking through this book one first notices the three BLACK pages with WHITE text. Scary! Geraldine (aged 8) is a regular, but loathed, summer holidays visitor. Loathed by Millie (10) who can't bear her brilliant cousin. Geraldine can play the cello, tap-dance, and do cartwheels, AND she's a show-off. All this perfection demands a plotted downfall, and the ghostly, ghastly mystery of the Red Eyes at Night unfolds. Morpurgo writes in a direct, chatty style, in the first person. Ross's sketches are witty and full of fear ... or fury ... or fun. Just right for newly independent readers; the type-set is bold, interspersed with lots of pictures, and it reads aloud well.