James loves two things. The first thing is dinosaurs. Everything from Diplodocuses to Velociraptors. The second thing is miniatures. He
has a huge collection on his shelves of teeny, tiny things from a fire truck, a lion, to a red telephone box. He even has a miniature fridge.

One day James visited the museum and there he found the most perfect thing. A miniature Triceratops! But James didn’t have any money. He wanted this so very badly. ‘He looked left. He looked right.’ Now he did a naughty thing. He put it in his pocket.

The rest of the day James didn’t feel right. He couldn’t eat his sandwich for lunch. He felt something wriggling in his chest. When he looked down the Triceratops he’d put in his pocket was growing bigger! He put it quickly in his bag. But by the time he got home it had grown even bigger. His mum was watching as it burst out of his school bag. He had to confess.

This cautionary tale tells us how guilt can grow so big but doing the right thing can set it straight. The way the parents deal with James’s ‘sticky fingers’ is softly done as they help him learn but also find a way to have his teeny dinosaur after all.

Much to feel good about here.

Reviewed by Merle Morcom

Age Guide 3+

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ashleigh Barton is a children’s author and content and copywriter based in Sydney, Australia. This means all her working hours are spent on her own creative projects or crafting copy for clients in various industries all over the world. No two days are the same – just the way she likes it.

Before writing full-time, she pursued my love of books (children’s books especially) by working in some of Australia’s biggest publishing houses. She ran marketing and publicity campaigns for globally-renowned authors and illustrators, including some of myher all-time favourites.

Visit Ashleigh Barton’s website

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Blithe Fielden is an illustrator from the UK but now based in Brisbane. Blithe loves to create playful, colourful and happy illustrations, depicting the world through the eyes of children.

Since graduating from Leeds Arts University with a BA (Hons) in Illustration, Blithe has showcased her illustrations to a range of audiences.

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