The Adventures of Harry Stevenson

There have been quite a few notable guinea pigs in children’s literature, chief among them Olga Da Polga of course, but Harry Stevenson is very much an original creation, and a thoroughly appealing character. His favourite occupations are eating, sleeping and eating some more, though he does enjoy snuggling up to his owner Billy and indeed, the real affection between the two of them is one of the many pleasures of this book. Despite his love of a quiet life, Harry has two daring adventures in this book fortunately emerging unscathed and perhaps slightly wiser from each: when his family move house, Harry finds himself left behind, and has to hitch lifts via various modes of transport to follow the van; settled into their new home, a mistake with the strings of a bunch of balloons sees him flying over the town before he lands slap bang in the middle of local team Sparky FC’s cup tie. There’s a perfect mix of peril and humour in both stories, and running in the background are gentle storylines about Billy and how he’s coping with the move and a new home – readers will appreciate how important it is to him too that Harry makes it back safely. Ali Pye’s illustrations – in black and a wonderful fluorescent orange – serve to break up the text and add to the reading enjoyment. She also sneaks in lots of facts about looking after guinea pigs and their lifestyles and fills the pictures of Harry ‘popcorning’ with happiness with real joy. A very good book for confident young readers.