We were so excited to be sent the new Judith Kerr book to review, among and the Tiger who came to tea are firm favourites in our house, daddy in particular loves them!

This new book did not fail to disappoint. A lovely hardback book, delightfully illustrated. It was somewhat longer than I anticipated and definitely aimed at a slightly older audience, so our main argument was whether daddy or I got to read it to the kiddiewinks, with it being a book to read over several nights, we wanted the reader to be the same, I won and by paragraph one my eldest two kiddiewinks and I were hooked.

For me, I loved the way the name Mr Cleghorn rolled off the tongue and the scene was set beautifully. The book prompted some interesting discussions about the past, as both recognised it wasn’t set in modern day Britain, they were fascinated by the use of horses!

The book provoked a wide range of emotions while reading it – one minute the kids were giggling, then they expressed borrow and empathy. They were still talking about it when cleaning their teeth, horrified that the seal may have been ‘killed’.

The book reads well all the way through with a great attention to detail, really helping th children picture the scenes as they unfolded. We would all wholeheartedly recommend this book, but it definitely takes longer to read, so set aside a week of bedtime stories to really savour it. My kiddiewinks are only 4 and 7, so I imagine a slightly older child would enjoy reading it to themself.

It would make a perfect Christmas present for the book loving family to enjoy together.