Hamish McHaggis and the Lost Prince
by Linda Strachan
Illustrated by Sally J. Collins
This is the seventh book in the series about Hamish, who is in fact a wild haggis! He lives with his friends in Coorie Doon and generally keeps out of the way of humans, in case they feel predatory towards him.
However in Sally J Collins' illustrations, Hamish looks nothing like a sheep's stomach stuffed with meat and porage oats; he is a rather cuddly yellow plush creature with a plump waistline and tartan tam o' shanter. His companions include an osprey with a pearl necklace and a pine marten with a backwards baseball cap.
In this story they are enlisted to help find a missing hind, son of the Monarch of the Glen; this little prince is lost in the grounds of Balmoral Castle and Angus the pine marten has a memorable encounter with a countrified lady walking a pack of corgi dogs ...
There is a delicious light sense of humour running through the story to pique the interest of young readers but the text is simple enough even for those who don't get the references to Mrs Mountbatten-Windsor. Great fun.