Wisher and the Runaway Piglet by Georgie Adams

Wisher and the Runaway Piglet is the first book in The Railway Rabbits series written by Georgie Adams and published by Orion Children's Books. It is a lovely tale and great for children and after reading it I would very much like to read the rest of the series. It will be released on 21st October 2010.

The series the tale of the Longears family, a family of Rabbits living near a Railway station in The River Ripple Valley. In this first book in the series we meet Barley Longears, his wife Mellow Longears and their new family of bucks and does, Bramble, Bracken, Berry, Fern and Wisher, who will become the main protagonist in the adventures that occur in this book. We also meet their neighbours, including Blinker Badger, Sylvia Squirrel, Parsley the Mole, Burdock the Buzzard and the dreaded Red Dragon!

The language is well-developed, colourful and descriptive and, accompanied with a few well-placed illustrations, makes the story very easy to visualise. The chapters are kept short, very much in the style of short stories, which means the plot moves along quickly, keeping the reader interested, which is of course especially important for children. It is an easy book to read from start to finish, and then want to read all over again, but the short chapters also mean that a parent using this as a bed-time story can easily find places to break off.

The story itself is also well developed and combines well real life observations with a wonderful use of imagination. I think the author here has done well to capture the animal world and has presented the world in general through the eyes of these animals, so that you are also discovering the world along with them. There is also a great relationship within the Longears family.

As this is the first in the series, the first chapter focuses on explaining the main characters of the tale, that is the Longears family and their neighbours. Whilst this is done in a creative fashion, I feel like this would be least interesting to children, especially some of the dialogue, on example of which I found a bit long. It is an important chapter, but in comparison with the other, it is not quite as exciting or appealing to a younger audience. Also, it does take some time before we are introduced to the Runaway Piglet mentioned in the title.

I very much enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to parents, guardians or those who care for children. I miss reading tales like this for children, those that are creative with nature rather than always referring to the fantastical, magic, or imaginary worlds. If, like me, you are a fan of traditional animal tales like Beatrix Potter, The Wind in the Willows or Just So Stories, then you will enjoy this book and will love reading it to children.

N.B. I received this book for review from Waterstones after responding to an 'advert'. I received no payment or reward, just the book, in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Waterstones.