Quinella's Pipe

Author: Catherine Eden
Publisher:
Reviewer: Ambre Nicolson @ambrenicolson
Did anyone else go through a tween animal story phase? I remember that sometime after my Nancy Drew fascination but before I got into Tolkien  and Terry Pratchett, I spent many happy afternoons up in my favourite tree, reading Tarka the Otter, the Snow Goose, Watership Down and Duncton Wood. 

​Quinella’s Pipe, by local writer Catherine Eden, reminded me a lot of these classic animal tales - with the added delight of the creatures and the setting being recognisably local.
The book traces the adventures of a community of creatures in a semi-urban garden as they race to help their friends the moles escape to safety after their home is invaded by property developers. The characters include a set of slightly co-dependent frogs, a charming leopard toad, a family of squirrels and Quinella herself, a wise porcupine based on a real-life counterpart who lived nearby the author - just as she does in the story.
The book would make for good bedtime reading for little kids and a book that older children could read by themselves. The story includes lots of action (one of the best bits is a heroic resuscitation effort by one of the humans in the story), charming illustrations and a heartwarming outcome. “