Figaro and Rumba and the Crocodile Café (Anna Fienberg & Stephen Michael King, A&U)

Figaro and Rumba are a Cuban dog and cat who live together. Rumba, the cat, is an ex-musician whose whole family was catnapped years ago. Figaro, the dog, found Rumba in a market one day and they have been each other’s family ever since. Figaro wants to take the Very Fast Train to the beach, but Rumba insists they clean the house before any adventures can be had (Monday is cleaning day and Rumba is a cat with a sense of responsibility). When they finally catch the Very Fast Train, they meet a crocodile with a musical waistcoat who is a little too smarmy for Figaro’s taste. Could he be a terrible villain? This is a very cute first chapter book, which combines half pages of text with coloured illustrations by Stephen Michael King. While the book is a bit longer than most other chapter books for a similar age group (five- to six-year-olds), such as the ‘Pearlie’ series, the chapters are short enough that early readers will get through them in a sitting. Hopefully, this is the start of a new series from Anna Fienberg (author of the ‘Tashi’ series), as I would love to revisit this quirky pairing.

Amelia Vahtrick is the children’s book buyer at Better Read Than Dead in Newtown

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Category: Reviews