Read Hotel Flamingo: Carnival Caper free for 7 days. £7.99/month after - less than a paperback.
Alex Milway's Hotel Flamingo: Carnival Caper is a busy, silly hotel story for 7 year olds about a manager with a carnival float to build and some very noisy guests.
Anna runs Hotel Flamingo, where every guest is an animal and every animal needs something different. It's carnival week on Animal Boulevard, and she's been asked to lead the parade.
The best float wins a Golden Palm. The Glitz, the swanky hotel down the road, usually gets all the glory. So Anna says yes, with just one week to pull it off.
Then the guests start arriving. A pair of very nervous skunks (Mr Kunkworth lets off a terrible smell whenever he gets a fright). Six parrots who don't want beds, they want a pole. And a group booking with hearts doodled all round it by Lemmy on the front desk.
It's the Nocturnal Animals, the biggest band in the world, sneaking in after midnight. Their honey badger manager, Mr Sweet, is VERY rude. And the band rehearse at three in the morning, waking up half the hotel.
On top of all that, Anna finds a hidden ballroom behind some chained-up doors. And she takes in Wilbur, a scruffy old sheepdog who has been sleeping in the gutter outside.
The fun is in the chaos. Madame Le Pig the chef bellows through her bedroom door in unicorn pyjamas (until she finds out who the midnight feast is for). Stella the handywoman solves most problems with bolt cutters. Hilary the hippo takes cleaning very seriously and offers Wilbur a flea treatment.
Anna is lovely company. She's kind, a little out of her depth and very determined. When she finally stands up to Mr Sweet and orders him into her office, you'll want to cheer out loud!
Wilbur's story is handled gently too. He lost his job when he got older and has had nowhere to live since, and Anna works out how to help without making a fuss.
It's a great one for reading aloud, with plenty of silly voices to do. Anna has clearly been running the hotel for a while, but everything you need to know is explained as you go.
If they're after more animals in hats with jobs to do, try Mystery on the Ostrich Express. Fabio is a flamingo detective heading off on holiday by luxury steam train, and his friend Gilbert has packed a bucket and spade.
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