Magnificent Mabel and the Magic Caterpillar

Ruth Quayle's Magnificent Mabel and the Magic Caterpillar is a warm and funny collection of three stories for 5 year olds about a girl with an enormous imagination.

What happens

This is the fourth Magnificent Mabel book. Class One has a caterpillar called Steve, and every night someone different takes him home. Every afternoon Mabel jumps up and down and calls out to be picked. So she never is.

But Mabel knows something nobody else does. Steve is a MAGIC caterpillar, and she understands his caterpillar language. When her turn finally comes she has big plans. A midnight feast. A trip to Caterpillar Land. Steve tells her he's fed up of leaves and would much prefer pink food, so off she goes to the jungle to find some...

Then in the morning, Steve's box looks empty. What on earth is she going to tell Mr Messenger? Mabel's answer is pure Mabel, and the way it turns out is lovely.

In the last story Mabel decides she needs glasses, mainly so she can have a case that goes clickety-click like Sophie Simpson's. She can't even see America from her bedroom! A very kind optician has other ideas.

It's worth knowing that the middle story has some proper naughtiness in it. Mabel's secret friend Marcella, who nobody else ever sees, kicks down a den, rubs out a boy's homework and cuts a chunk off his hair with the kitchen scissors. Mabel gets the blame. It's meant to be funny, and the grown-ups are definitely not impressed. But if you've got a little one who might fancy trying the scissors, it's one to read together.

Mabel's voice is the best bit of all. Not being picked to take Steve home is a TRAGEDY as far as she's concerned. Her feelings are HUGE and she's never once in doubt about anything.

If your reader is pet-mad, or has ever wanted something just because a friend has one, they'll get Mabel completely.

What to read next

If they'd like to carry on, Magnificent Mabel and the Very Important Witch is the next book. Halloween gets cancelled for a visit to Great-Aunt Bridget's care home, and Mabel is NOT happy about it.