Some books exude such a sunny sunshiney holiday atmosphere that we can't help but be drawn in by them. We were almost wishing we were sitting in a quiet little taverna in an idyllic shoreside village somewhere in Greece when we started out with "Tasso", the story of a poor fisherman and his two children.
Tasso (the boy) plays his bouzouki in a local cafe to help earn some money while his poor dad fishes the local seas for tasty fish to sell. Tasso's sister waits at the tables, and poor Tasso soon finds that his demanding job and long hours completely tires him out.
The cafe owner realises that Tasso's music is a huge draw, and people love to come along to the cafe to sing and dance and eat and drink. His idea is to replace Tasso with something that never gets tired - a big blaring Rock-A-Rolla machine.
The noisy jukebox does indeed wow the crowds at first, and poor Tasso ends up dismissed - there's no need for a boy who plays the bouzouki when you've got a Rock-A-Rolla machine that can play all night long.
But soon the novelty wears off. People stop coming to the cafe because it's so noisy, and worse still, the Rock-a-Rolla machine blares out all night and all day, so people can't get any sleep.
Will Tasso somehow turn the situation around and make good? And what will become of the Rock-a-Rolla machine?
A beautifully woven tale, fluidly illustrated and gorgeously written by William Papas. Makes us feel like going on holiday right now!
"Tasso" by William Papas is out today, published by Pikku Publishing (Kindly supplied for review)