Sadly I was quite disappointed by Ruby Red Shoes Goes to London by Kate Knapp. It began with the cover illustration of what looked like a Routemaster bus which are sadly no more in London. The bus number was 22 with destinations: Westminster, Tower bridge and Trafalgar Square. You would be greatly disappointed as the number 22 goes to none of those places. I know this sounds picky but why not be accurate?
However, I loved the opening (and end) pages which listed tube stations with wittily changed names like "Lettuce Square", "Pick-a-Silly Circus" and "Parsnip Green". So far so good. The arrival in London and taking the underground is fun with a couple of witty posters like "Hare The Musical" but then follows eight pages of fairly mundane family life: eating bathtime etc. The actual interesting bits about London are squashed into a few pages and why on earth are Liberty and Fortnum & Mason mentioned when most of the shops are given humorous invented names?
Anyway Ruby's day (rather a lot of sight-seeing) is rounded off with an exciting surprise...
I feel Ruby Red Shoes Goes to London could just be a much better book but would add that the illustrations by the author are simply lovely far superior to the narrative.
PWT rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
Ruby Red Shoes Goes To London