Brambleheart

Henry Cole's Brambleheart is a cosy animal adventure for 8 year olds about a chipmunk who's no good at anything, until he finds a dragon.

What happens

Twig lives on the Hill, a huge heap of everything humans have thrown away. Every young animal there trains for three years to become a Master of something, like Weaving or Metal Craft or Welding. At the Naming Ceremony, you get your final name.

Twig is hopeless. His knot goes straight in the To Untangle bin. He spills molten lead in Metal Craft (with a bit of help from Basil the weasel's foot). He sets the bellows on fire in Welding. If nothing changes, he'll be made an Errand Runner, the lowest job on the Hill.

What he really loves is his pile of picture books full of sea monsters and dragons. So when he runs away, tumbles into a river and finds a glowing golden egg on the bank... well, you can guess what hatches!

The baby dragon is adorable. It goes GRRRUUUK. It eats squashed grapes and roly-poly bugs. It decides Twig is its mummy. Twig and his best friend Lily hide it in an old clock tower, which doesn't go entirely to plan.

It's a very gentle book, full of mushroom soup, berry pancakes and elderberry pies. The Hill is great fun to explore too. There's a bridge woven from old bootlaces, another made from a vacuum cleaner hose, and a front door that used to be part of a clock.

There's a little sadness in it. Twig's dad was taken by a hawk before the story starts, and later a hawk comes very close to catching Twig. It's handled softly, but a child who's lost someone might feel it.

If you've got a reader who sometimes feels rubbish at the things everyone else finds easy, Twig is lovely company. He keeps trying, and he's kind.

What to read next

For another small creature who's brilliant at making things, try A Nest for Celeste. Celeste is a mouse who weaves beautiful baskets under the floorboards of a big old house, and she has a couple of bullies of her own to deal with.