book cover

Dave Pigeon (Royal Coo!)

by Swapna Haddow, illustrated by Sheena Dempsey

Interest age: 6 to 11
Reading age: 6+

Published by Faber & Faber, 2019

  • Chapter books
  • Funny

About this book

Dave Pigeon is obsessed with food (crumbs, soggy rice cakes, anything), so drags his friend Skipper to the Royal Palace to enjoy tasty leftovers from a grand party.

Unfortunately, they’re arrested by Corvus (the guard) and placed in a dark crate; Dave is accused of stealing the prince’s face! Luckily the Royal Pigeon, Prince Raju, takes pity on the pair and, as well as releasing them, he agrees to secretly swap places with Dave for the day. The prince can have freedom from royal duties and Dave can enjoy limitless food and the comfort of royal life. The plan fails as lazy Dave struggles in his royal duties and offends royal dignitaries. Worse still, he falls victim to the prince jealous sister trying to overthrow him – it’s a royal coo!

This storybook will have children tittering throughout at poor Dave’s cat-brained antics and the puns and bird-facts provide lots of great talking points too.

As a chapter book with fun illustrations, it’s an ideal choice for younger readers to have their vocabulary stretched with an age-appropriate story. The book’s conversational style and use of speech bubbles and adorable sketches will undoubtedly have children racing through and asking for more books from the series.

About the author

Londoner Swapna Haddow is the award-winning children's author of the Dave Pigeon series. She loves to write about boisterous animals that cause mayhem and is working to make sure mean cats, grizzly bears and big-hearted little rabbits find their place on the bookshelves. Friendship and humour are always at the heart of what Swapna loves to write.

Her first published book, Dave Pigeon, illustrated by Sheena Dempsey, received rave reviews and went on to win three regional awards in the UK and was shortlisted for the prestigious Sainsbury's Children's Book Award. The series is based on two pigeons who find themselves battling predators in an array of madcap scenarios, all the while proving that friendship and teamwork can defeat anything. Swapna now lives in New Zealand with her husband, son and their dog, Archie.

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