Nanny Piggins and the pursuit of justice by R.A. Spratt

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Random House, 2012. ISBN: 9781864718164.
Highly recommended for ages 8 and up. When Nanny Piggins is taken to court for tight rope walking between two buildings, in a quest for chocolate cake, she is ordered to complete five thousand hours of community service. She accepts her punishment in good grace and first visits the Golden Willows Retirement Home to 'talk' to the residents whose television has broken down. Naturally, the irrepressible Sarah Piggins takes it upon herself to entertain them in her own inimitable style with unexpected consequences. Later, she displays her exceptional skills as a fortune teller, the driver of the school bus and an agony aunt. Along the way, she battles memory loss and a challenge to her accomplishment as 'The World's Greatest Flying Pig'.
Each chapter in the book could exist as a stand-alone episode with Spratt's writing incorporating entertaining situations and vocabulary which is aimed at competent readers. The author has a quirky sense of humour and her descriptions of the settings and characters made me chortle loudly on occasion, particularly as she describes libraries and librarians! This title would make a thoroughly entertaining novel to use as a read aloud in class, holding plenty of appeal to boys and girls alike. Spratt has created a winning recipe in this series and each book has managed to engage the reader with Nanny Piggins being the adult with whom every child would love to live. I find her lack of rules and flouting of authority to be especially amusing, and I imagine most children would agree.
Jo Schenkel

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