Grandpa's Dashing Dessert product reviews

The children were most excited to receive a second "Grandpa" book to review. They had loved his altercations with the swing in a previous book (Grandpa Versus Swing), so were delighted to get another story about him. Before reading the text, they skimmed through the pictures and were immediately in fits of giggles at the idea of Grandpa hopping on a skateboard, and Grandma following on her roller-skates. They tried to work out which of their grandparents was most likely to attempt something like that because it was not something they would normally do.

The graphics, as in the previous book, are wonderful. It was possible for the children to work out most of the story without looking at the words at all - a bonus for younger children who cannot read yet. Miss Five is making a good effort to read now although she still needs quite a lot of help; Mr Four can identify the odd word. As they became familiar with the story, they were able to match up the words with the pictures.

After some discussion, and once the story was properly read to the end, they agreed on the Grandma most likely to have done it. One of their grandmothers is a very good cook, and they could not imagine her spending hours making a pavlova only to lose it. She would almost certainly have raced to the rescue by whatever means she could. She is also very capable, frequently rescuing other people when they get into pickles.

Mr Four did wonder if there would be any toppings left after most of them had blown off with the momentum of the runaway tea trolley. Miss Five was more concerned that Grandpa was not wearing a helmet to protect his head. At least Grandma was wearing one! However, there was probably an excuse for Grandpa as he was in an extreme panic to save the pavlova. And although Grandpa may have made it, it was Grandma's favourite dessert too!

As always, the simple rhyming structure made the words very easy to remember. After several readings, the children knew much of the text by heart and were able to recite the lines along with whichever of the adults was reading it with them. They were completely engaged with the story, and were most relieved when the inevitable happy ending ensued - even if the toppings were somewhat depleted and in disarray. Miss Five thought she would like a similar pavlova for her next birthday; I wonder if so many layers would stay intact in real life. I would not like to be in charge of slicing the portions!