Who's Afraid of the Light

A glow-in-the-dark cover. Now that's appealing for a start (although this book is eye-catching even in daylight). Open it up and you immediately get a sense that, while it belongs in 'non-fiction', it doesn't take its subject entirely seriously. After all, who's heard of seagulls in sunglasses or talking dolphins, not to mention Fergus? He talks too, but we can't see him and he has a habit of disappearing. Perhaps he's a coward, as one Year 3 said when shown the book. Another Year 2 child was drawn in by the hint of a monsters.

The intrigue builds and builds as we piece together a picture of Fergus until, in the flash of a camera, we get a nasty surprise! There is a monster in the deep and it's not the fiercesome-looking dragonfish, spookfish or vampire squid. These we can see are all well adapted to life in the dark, as the final double page explains, but perhaps even they should be afraid of ending up as a tasty meal for a yet more fiercesome predator....

The humour, the illustrations, the story-like presentation of facts: all make this a hugely attractive book for the primary school library, classroom book corner or bedroom bookcase. Reading for pleasure just got more pleasurable still.

Suggested Reading Age 7+