Hotel Flamingo: Carnival Caper Carnival Caper

It's near-impossible to chose a favourite character in Alex Milway's utterly charming Hotel Flamingo; a marvellous menagerie, where the chef is a pig, the handyman a giraffe and where cockroaches are welcome paying guests. The new girl owner Anna's bid to return the hotel to its former glory and to outshine the nearby Glitz, is a tale of co-operation, ingenuity and fun, all brought to life in Milway's pitch-perfect words and pictures. Funny though it is -- and it's certainly that -- it's also truly heartwarming and uplifting. I'd love to book a room there myself. Philip Ardagh