TOTO THE NINJA CAT AND THE GREAT SNAKE ESCAPE

I was looking for a chapter book to progress on to from reading the usual bedtime story books to my 7yr old son. After checking a few others I was drawn to this one, partly for the ninja based story that I know my son would like and partly because I love Dermot O Leary!It turned out to be a great choice. My son loved the story and it was enjoyable to read. We did a chapter a night which was perfect, not too long, not too short. There are some great illustrations along side which my son really enjoyed too.We look forward to purchasing and starting the next instalment!

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This seemed like it would be a winner with my seven-year-old daughter and indeed it was!Toto and Silver are brother and sister, recently arrived from Italy and now homed in Camden. They are befriended by the amicable Catface, who offers to be their guide to London. It's only when they go out to explore that they discover a King Cobra has escaped from London Zoo and it's up to them to protect the animals of London. Luckily, despite being blind, Toto is secretly a ninja!This is a well written and beautifully illustrated book. My daughter is a competent reader for her age but there was some vocabulary to challenge her, which was a big bonus. The book has recognisable locations and its possible to imagine all this excitement is happening just out of sight of the humans. My daughter has asked if we can start the sequel immediately, so that's what we're off to do!

I was really, really skeptical of this - I love Dermot O'Leary as a presenter but wasn't sure about how well he would be able to write children's books. And actually, I was pleased to be wrong - this is a great adventure story that is really well written. Toto is a cat from Italy who is almost blind, but also has incredible ninja skills that she puts to use with the help of her brother Silva. There's another fabulous character too called 'Catface' who acts as their guide around London but is clearly hiding a secret of his own. The plot is pacy - an escaped snake from the zoo - and the ending felt quite satisfying (not too predictable but rounded the story off well). There are great details in there too, for example with animals riding on tube trains alongside humans that are well complimented by detailed and interesting illustrations. I'd definitely read more in the series once they are written.

Bought this to read to my son at bedtime. He needed some more chapter based books for bedtime stories and thought we would give this a go. I'll be honest... I was a little sceptical when i saw that Dermot O'Leary was the author. But, its pretty good. My boy enjoyed it, quickly got into the story and liked the characters. He's 8 now and its on the edge of being a little young for him, i would say 6-8 is about right for the range on this. Sentences and structure are quite basic and its definitely aimed at a younger audience. Story is easy to follow and chapters are not too long, he persuaded me to read 2 on a few nights as he wanted to see what happened next. Illustrations are minimal, but well done and help to bring a few key moments to life. All in all, was pleasantly surprised by this book. We bought the second instalment after and have just made a start on this too.