Stanley Bagshaw and the Mafeking Square Cheese Robbery

A bright, colourful comic-strip book which is well worth having in class or library. Countless junior-aged children will have encountered Stan (and his gran) in their northern town, so the setting of this latest adventure will be familiar. Briefly, Stan runs an errand for his neighbour, daydreams outside the local 'flea pit' Roxy, and suddenly encounters two robbers, who he thinks are wild west villains. Subsequently they all reach a 'High Noon' in the local grocers, and the outcome is frenetic. I rate this book highly for those who have just mastered reading skills, and who need a confidence booster. The minimum of words and the maximum of pictures encourage the desire to keep persevering, yet daydreaming is not out of place, for the wealth of detail in the illustrations continually arrests attention. Bob Wilson's nuances and sense of humour also enhance the storyline.