Happy Birthday, Winnie!

The seventh Winnie the Witch book finds Winnie celebrating her birthday (on Friday 13th, naturally) with a slap-up garden party. Fans will not be disappointed as Korky Paul works his magic on Valerie Thomas’s simple storyline that involves preparation for the party, a series of mishaps on the day, including the mysterious disappearance of all the guests, and the triumphant surprise cake which folds out to three pages tall. Despite the cake, this title’s probably not up there with the best of Winnie. The page is crowded at times (you might spot characters from Korky’s collaborations with other writers among the guests) and I can’t quite make out exactly what is going on in the musical broomsticks game. Never mind, with such appealing characters and with an illustrator who works at such a consistently high standard, you can’t go wrong. The aerial views of the grounds of Winnie’s house, complete with maze, marquee and bouncy castle, are wonderful; and there are some delicious endpapers by Cory Taylor and Molly Heenan (both aged 7).