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The Water HorseDick King-Smith
The Water Horse
by Dick King-Smith
Kirstie finds an enormous egg on a Scottish beach. What hatches is friendly, grows alarmingly fast, and eventually needs a very large loch.
A story about children and animals, warm and adventurous in tone. We would put it with children of 8–11, and at a reading age of about 9 for reading alone.
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Our take on this book
On a Scottish beach after a storm, Kirstie finds a strange egg, and out of it hatches a small, flippered creature she calls Crusoe — who grows, and grows, and grows, until keeping him secret becomes impossible and the family must find him a home big enough, deep and dark and full of legend. Dick King-Smith, the great teller of animal tales, offers a warm, gently magical story with a lovely twist of Scottish myth: the reader slowly realises just what Crusoe is destined to become. It is funny, tender and full of King-Smith's affection for animals and families, with nothing frightening — just the sweet, growing problem of a pet who won't stop getting bigger. For a seven- to ten-year-old it is a charming, satisfying read with a delightful legendary payoff, and a lovely choice for an animal-loving child who enjoys a story that turns the everyday into something quietly wondrous.
If they like this, try these
Chosen by matching age, reading age, tone and subject — not by what is selling.
Danny the Champion of the WorldRoald Dahl
Stig of the DumpClive King
Asha and the Spirit BirdJasbinder Bilan
Running WildMichael Morpurgo
Or let them write their own.
Nothing gets a child reading like a story they invented themselves. Your child plans the characters and the plot, and we write, illustrate and print it as a real book with their name on the cover as the author.
Find another book
Tell us the age, the reading age and what they like, and we will suggest a handful.