Poppy Pickle
Emma Yarlett
Templar Publishing
Joyful exuberance leaps out from this one right from the start – despite the downpour. I guess I was predisposed to loving it after reading ‘A little girl with a BIG imagination’ on the cover. This small girl’s imagination knows no bounds when she’s banished to her bedroom for some high-spirited imaginings …

Before long, her entire room is crammed with all kinds of crazy creatures and Poppy is in her element.

But good things don’t go on forever as our heroine discovers all too soon. Totally diverting delight turns to utter disaster as her mum and dad begin to twig that’s she’s not actually tidying her room as instructed.

However, imagining things isn’t a reversible reaction as Poppy discovers when she tries some desperate ‘un-imagining.’ Equally unsuccessful is the imagined giant eraser ploy; is it all up for Poppy then? Fortunately, not quite.: we have been told she has a BIG imagination so, in the nick of time there follows a light-bulb moment …

But that still leaves a lot of explaining to do …
Oh, and the after tea tidying up, and the dressing down; but even that doesn’t dent our young heroine’s unsquashable imagination – hurray for Poppy say I. ‘TA-DAH!’
Wonderful idea – wonderfully delivered in a deliciously droll and direct manner, and wonderfully wackily and wittily portrayed.
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

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