The Queen’s Nose

Dick King-Smith's The Queen's Nose is a funny, magical tale for 8 year olds about a girl who'd give anything for a pet of her own.

What happens

Harmony Parker is ten. Her parents think animals are dirty, so she hasn't got one. She has Rex Ruff Monty instead, a bald, one-eyed toy dog who's fifty-nine years old. She tells him everything.

Then her Uncle Ginger comes home on leave from India, and he's the only grown-up who really gets her. When he leaves, he hands her a small brown envelope. Inside is a clue. Then another clue, then a riddle, then a fifty pence piece.

Working out that riddle is great fun to read along with. Can your reader crack it before Harmony does? The answer is in the title (sort of). The coin grants wishes, seven of them, as long as you rub the right edge.

The best bit is Harmony herself. She sees every person as an animal. Her father is a Sea Lion and her mother a Pouter Pigeon. Bossy big sister Melody is a sleek Siamese cat, and Uncle Ginger is a Silvertip Grizzly. She has a face for every mood too, from the Ridiculously Happy Face to the I Hate My Sister Face.

And she's no goody-goody (which is half the fun). She ambushes Melody in the orchard with a tiger's roar. She kicks her under the breakfast table. She tells her to mind her own stinking business.

Wishing turns out to be harder than it looks. Her first try, for fish fingers and chips, gets her cold meat and salad. Later she nearly loses the coin altogether when her mum wants to swap it for stamps. Who hasn't wished for something and then wished they'd thought it through?

If your reader longs for an animal of their own, they'll understand Harmony completely. It's light and silly with a big heart, and every chapter brings a new wish to worry about.

What to read next

If they love Harmony's animal-mad heart, try The Sheep-Pig next. A piglet won at the village fair is taken in by Fly the sheepdog, and before long he's asking her if he can learn to herd sheep.