Rory Sparkes and the Elephant in the Room : The hilarious first children’s book from Paddington star, Hugh Bonneville

Rory Sparkes and the Elephant in the Room is heart-warming and very funny. I couldn’t stop reading it. 5 stars – Noah, aged 9A laugh-out-loud new adventure from Paddington star Hugh Bonneville, perfect for fans of the real-world mischief, relatable characters and short episodic stories of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Horrid Henry and Just William. Filled with brilliantly funny illustrations from Loretta Schauer. Rory Sparkes is a boy with a head full of dreams. He might become a strongman and travel the world with the circus. Or he might try to make it as a cowboy – that would be a fan-tas-tic second best. Although at the moment he’d settle for missing his maths lesson and making his torch work properly. As he plots to help his best friend, Guy, earn enough money to buy the latest top-of-the-line model boat (so they can set sail for South America), the circus rolls into town and everything spirals out of control. With Guy needing help doing odd jobs for the terrifying Madame Lowe, and with Clare, Rory’s annoying older sister, planning a dastardly prank, will Rory’s plans ever work out? Let’s see …