Agents of the Wild: Operation Sandwhiskers
Jennifer Bell and Alice Lickens
Walker Books

Agnes (aka Agent Gamble) is watering her window boxes when a flamingo crashes into her geraniums , is briefly trapped and then tumbles through her bedroom window. The dehydrated creature is en route to SPEARS with an urgent message for Commander Phil.

Almost immediately, as part of SPEARS’ fight against the illegal trading of wild animals, with baby animals going missing across Africa, Agnes is off to meet up with her partner Attie, currently in Egypt, intent on what she’s told could be her most dangerous mission to date; to investigate the disappearance of some hydrax pups from their burrow.

Almost as soon as Agnes and Attie are reunited, they’re dashing across the Sahara Desert in a silver bullet buggy towards the burrow’s location. There’s trouble in store though when they find themselves at the mercy of a wicked animal poacher, trapped in an ancient Egyptian tomb. Then it’s up to tenacious Agnes to summon all her courage, use her wealth of wildlife knowledge plus the occasional animal-tai move to try and save both agents and the stolen animals.

Like the previous books in the series, this has a superbly written, action-packed narrative with plenty of witty dialogue and some terrific characters, including two that henceforward will be a special part of Agnes’ life. Plus there’s an absolute wealth of animal facts seamlessly woven into the story, part and parcel of which on almost every spread, are Alice Lickens’ splendid quirky illustrations.

The last few pages contain Agnes’ field notes and observations, a rallying cry for readers from Commander Phil concerning illegal wildlife trading, information about the animals threatened and more.

An absolutely smashing solo read or KS2 class share.