The Cleo Stories: The Necklace and The Present

This hardback storybook contains two stories about a young girl called Cleo. In the first story she goes to her friend Nick’s sixth birthday party and gets jealous of the necklaces the other girls have. When she comes home she tells her parents that she has to get a necklace, but Mum and Dad think she needs to wait for her birthday. Cleo says if she doesn’t get one she’ll ‘be sad for all of my life’, but then she sees Uncle Tom’s tattoos and gets an idea. In the second story it’s nearly Mum’s birthday and Cleo is desperately trying to think of what she can give her. She finally comes up with a wonderful idea, and with a little help from Uncle Tom, she gives Mum the best present ever!

These are simple, very charming stories that many children will relate to.  They’re set in Australia, but this is evident only occasionally, for instance when Cleo counts up her cents, or remembers that they went to the beach and swam on Christmas Day. The colour illustrations have an old fashioned, Shirley Hughes-like quality to them, well suited to the warmth of the stories.