Shortlisted for The Red House Children’s Book Award 2012.
Lauren, Jack, Ruby and Billy live by the seaside with their mum and dad - but their parents are always arguing, and then their dad moves out. Lauren and Jack decide they have to get them together again. And so begins Operation Eiffel Tower ...in which the four children try to raise money to give their mum and dad a treat in an attempt to make them happier. First they want to send their parents to Paris, but quickly realise they can never afford that, so instead they set up a dinner for two under the Eiffel Tower in the local crazy golf attraction. But will it get their parents talking again? A funny and very moving story that tackles important issues with a light touch.
'Its ingenious ideas, humour and clear, unfussy style keep the pages turning speedily to the feel-good conclusion, which is moving without being mawkish' - Sunday Times
'Creating novels that engage children and at the same time show how books can help them explore difficult questions about their own experience is perhaps the ideal of children's fiction, but it's a difficult balancing act ... Elen Caldecott has achieved this balance beautifully' - Observer
'Funny and quirky with a wonderful main character ... a warming and moving story from a talented new author' - TBK magazine
Praise for How Kirsty Jenkins Stole the Elephant:
'The bright narrative proceeds unerringly and often hilariously to the climax ... [Elen Caldecott] handles the tricky subject of death superbly. It's a central theme, but it never overpowers the light breeziness of the yarn. The iron clamp of realism is unshackled to allow a primary colour world to peek even into Mr Thomas's rude and grumpy heart' - Western Mail
Author
About Elen Caldecott
Elen Caldecott graduated with an MA in Writing for Young People from Bath Spa University and was highly commended in the PFD Prize for Most Promising Writer for Young People. Before becoming a writer, she was an archaeologist, a nurse, a theatre usher and a museum security guard.
Elen's debut novel, How Kirsty Jenkins Stole the Elephant, was shortlisted for the Waterstone's Children's Prize and longlisted for the 2010 Carnegie Award.
