Oscar's Birthday — Henrietta DeFreitas

The books and illustrations are loosely based on meerkats - there are two main meerkat families, the Mortimers and the Brians, that feature throughout Henrietta's books, Oscar's Birthday being the first. As the books go on, Henrietta begins to develop each character mostly through the eyes of Henratty Mortimer and this book tells a story of what happens on Oscar's sixth birthday when The Mortimers pay an uninvited visit and get caught hiding in the bushes but then join in with the birthday celebrations and how the meerkats interact with one another, the games they play, you see their mischievous side, the look of excitement on their faces when they see all the lovely food and when Oscar blows out the candles on his giant birthday cake and the sheer look of joy when the presents are opened. All beautifully captured in the wonderful illustrations. The book really reflects how the author saw things when she went to birthday parties as a child. In fact, throughout all the books Henratty wears a red cape and beret (again the author had a red cape and beret as a child and just adored these garments). The book also tries to light-heartedly keep in line with the way meerkats behave and how they look out for their own and you will see this in characters like Jack who is always doing watch duty on the mount as he is so mischievous and loves playing games. He lives in a fantasy world sometimes and that comes out in the books. Henratty too is a very strong individual who speaks her mind and defends her honour. Mama Katie is also fair, firm and decisive and able to take control because of her matriarchal instinct. Age Range: 3-7