We Review Pantomime Pandemonium

An up-for-it, down-to-earth children’s adventure in the reality of the urban world with humour, sensitivity and non-cheesy 'God input'.

At last! No wizards, no magic wardrobes, no hi-jinks in the dorm and no mysterious ghostly goings on in haunted dungeons. Just a good story told with humour and sensitivity set in the real world of today’s urban kids. And that’s a refreshing change to the over hyped, less than wholesome fantasy tales aimed at 8 to 10s by the secular book world. OK, I’m not the target market but I have to make some judgement on what I want young minds exposed to; and Topz stories are a good call.

The Topz get their name from the fact that they all live on top of something – a hill, a tower block, the top bunk. They face real problems – such as a grandfather in the early stages of Alzheimer’s; in this book they’re out to raise cash for charity by staging a panto despite their rivals, the Dixon gang. The ‘God input’ comes as diary entries debating the dilemma of their decisions; insertions that influence the story without interfering with its flow. And they are well written! In simple, varied and well structured sentences with UK English spellings, grammar and punctuation this is good reading as well as a good read.