Steve's Dreams: Steve and the Sabretooth Tiger: 1

This is the mission statement of the publisher of Dan Anthony's latest novel aimed at children aged from 7 to 11 and the book triumphantly fulfils all these demanding requirements. It is also very attractively produced with engaging and amusing illustrations which capture the text exactly. The young hero, Steve, is, in Dan's own words: "a brave little boy but like lots of children he's a bit of a worrier and he does worry about the world. When he goes out, he sees danger. But at night he dreams himself into a hero." His nine-year-old mind has anxieties about the dentist as well as the wider problems of the modern world: young readers will identify with him and join in his magical adventures and his humorously observed family life. Adults, too, can enjoy the jokes, the Library of Dreams and the mission to help a Sabre Tooth Tiger with a bad tooth. Imaginative, realistic and well-written, this book should be on every child's bedside shelf --Doc Barbara

It's the summer holidays, but for nine-year-old Steve life in his home town is full of hidden menace. There was that trip to the dentist for a start - and that Thing in the crinkle-cut chips freezer compartment...Steve believes he must protect his family from a dangerous, unpredictable world. But he can't solve all the problems on his own. He's just not quite big enough. Then the mysterious Library of Dreams comes calling and things start to get weird. Steve finds himself an unlikely hero on an impossible mission to outwit flesh-eaters and sabretooth tigers and save the human race.