Melrose and Croc Go to Town

This is a beautifully produced book – paperback cover with end-flaps enclosing cheerful endpapers, a lovely quality of matt paper printed in soft-edged muted colours, with an unusually nice smell. I don’t think I’ve ever reviewed a book’s smell before, but it is one of the pleasures of books, especially new ones, that I remember from childhood and still relish – this one is top!

One of a series about the dog Melrose and his friend Croc, in this new title the pair set off to shop in town, Croc rushing ahead while the more measured Melrose urges him to ‘stick together… or else we’ll get lost’. Croc can’t resist, they do get separated but eventually find each other through a forest of legs, and a lesson is learned.

Very Chichester Clark; Melrose and Croc are well-characterised in her cool style – there’s a mixture of warmth and remoteness in her crowd scenes which reminds us of reality without depicting it exactly. And the two friends will, I suspect, gather a following like her Blue Kangaroo, with good reason.