Crunch! by Carolina Rabei (Child's Play)

"Charlotte, we've got a new book to review and it's got a Guinea Pig in it!"

Imagine the following scene where a breathless and excited Charlotte dashes in, grabs the book and instantly whisks herself off into the world of "Crunch!" a rather portly and gorgeous Guinea Pig fellow with a huge appetite.

Crunch lives a fairly idyllic existence with all the wonderful food he can eat, and a nice comfy Guinea Pig run to scurry around in.

One day, Crunch's little world is invaded by a rather cheeky but very friendly mouse called Cheddar. Cheddar sees that Crunch has all the food he can eat, and more, so comes up with a suggestion. How about they share Crunch's bounteous meal in exchange for a lovely friendly hug?

Crunch does NOT like that idea at all, and poor dejected Cheddar leaves Crunch to his feast, walking silently away to grub around for scraps elsewhere.

Crunch has been quite happy on his own, but a lonely existence isn't much fun. He starts to worry about Cheddar, who did look quite thin and peaky - and vows to right his previous wrongs, find Cheddar and make a friend. But will Crunch be too late? Will Cheddar succumb to starvation or be scoffed by a scrawny alley cat in search of an easy meal?

Charlotte adored this from start to finish, Guinea Pigs are her favourite animal and despite Crunch's rather rude behaviour at first, he does eventually come through in a crunch (sorry, couldn't resist that one). A fine tale of sharing and friendship indeed (with some of the best big plump guinea pig art we've seen in a very long time!)

Charlotte's best bit: Crunch slurping away at his water bottle, just like a real Guinea Pig does!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A fun and furry tale of friendship and sharing, adorable for little ones and even big fussy ones like Charlotte too!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Child's Play)

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