The Queen's Nose

Mr and Mrs Parker are a rather stolid pair with two daughters. Melody, the elder, obliges her parents by never making excessive noise or mess and by appearing constantly willing. On the other hand, Harmony is in perpetual discord with the rest of her family, a lover of comfortable old clothes, outdoor activities and, worst of all, animals. Dick King-Smith has often given his animal characters human traits. In The Queen's Nose he gently reverses this trick and allows Harmony to attribute animal traits to those humans she knows. Thus her father is a sea lion, her mother a pouter pigeon and her sister a Siamese cat. When Uncle Ginger arrives he is immediately recognised as a silver-tipped grizzly bear. It is Uncle Ginger, however, who recognises Harmony's loneliness and in his parting gift gives her, to solve, the problem of the Queen's nose. Dick King-Smith has produced another perfect story, full of his quiet humour, his ability to reward the down-trodden without being in the least patronising. Again his ending is satisfying, possibly predictable but at the same time thought-provoking. If, like, you have pupils demanding more Dick King-Smith then you will be delighted to offer them his one.