Mary and Marcus: The Crazy Dance and Other Stories; Ursula Dubosarsky, illustrated by Andrew Joyner

Children who love quirky animals will find much to enjoy in the tales of this unlikely pairing who get into plenty of light-hearted and silly trouble.

Mary is a very happy panda who loves life, spending her days singing, dancing, playing the ukulele and quite often shouting ‘OINK’. Marcus the snake is the polar opposite, he doesn’t particularly enjoy any of the things that Mary does but he is always on the lookout for his best friend who sometimes get herself into a little bit of a pickle.

Whether Mary is dancing her way off the edge of the world, ‘accidentally’ eating a cake or trying to deal with a very problematic itch, Marcus is there to offer a helping hand (well snakes don’t have hands but you know what I mean). Friendship and fun are at the heart of these whimsical tales.

With black and white illustrations and simple sentences in over-sized font, these five stories are perfectly pitched for newly independent readers. Not needing to be read in any particular order, each short and sweet offering makes for the perfect bedtime story or a delightful read aloud with a group of young children who will revel in the antics of this funny animal duo. My favourite is ‘The Swap’ which sees the duo trading lives for the day…a panda bear basking in the sun and a footless snake trying to dance the cha-cha-cha - what’s not to love?

With huge thanks to Harper Collins and ABC Books for the copy I received in exchange for an honest review.

Recommended for 5+.