The Legend Of Kevin

by Philip Reeve, Illustrated by Sarah McIntyre

(It took a lot of attempts to get a photo that actually showed how sparkly that cover really is!! The page edges are sprayed silver as well.)

Arthur (7) was lucky enough to be sent a copy of this book by a family friend, back when he was suffering from his forty-thousandth* ear infection and feeling particularly miserable. (*possible exaggeration)

It is the first time I have seen him properly vanish into a chapter book for over an hour without even looking up, so I knew before I had even read any of it that it contained a special kind of magic. Especially considering how much pain he was in with his ear at the time, he had the attention span of a goldfish until he picked this up!

When he finished it, he thrust it at me and told me I needed to read it because it was amazing. And because it had lots of my favourite biscuits in it.

Well, it turns out my spirit animal might actually be a roly-poly flying pony called Kevin because he and I have very similar feelings about custard creams (such as ‘two is never enough’ and ‘they are better than grass’ for example.)

The Legend Of Kevin is the story of a fat flying pony who gets blown out of his nest in the hills of the Outermost West, across the Outermost Sea and SPLAT! into the side of Max’s block of flats by a particularly violent storm.

Max is rather pleased to find Kevin on his balcony because he has always wanted a pet, and the pair of them make quite a team when the storm floods Max’s entire town and his flat block ends up as the only dry ground.

Silly and funny, with light-hearted peril in the form of pesky Sea Monkeys and the flood itself, The Legend Of Kevin is great fun and got even my reluctant reader engaged from the very first page.

The book is also beautifully illustrated throughout in a muted colour palatte of black, white, and blue that works really well. The pictures are perfect for the text and it is clear that the author and illustrator really worked together on it all – the text and images compliment each other perfectly to give the story another dimension. Kevin is actually adorable and I want him to be my best friend, too.

Aimed at readers 7+ but suitable as a share-together story from probably 5, The Legend Of Kevin is a good, fun, feel-good read with lots of heart and silly moments that can be enjoyed by anyone. Especially if they happen to like biscuits.

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