Cat and Dumpling: The Talent Show

The second book in a charming new series by author Nicola Kent. Packed with beautiful full-colour illustrations and a delightful story about best friends, Cat and Dumpling. Cat and Dumpling are best friends, but they're very different. Cat is an impulsive dreamer who loves to knit, and Dumpling is a cautious planner who loves gardening. In these chapter books for early readers the pair's far-fetched schemes and conflicting ideas wreak warm-hearted slapstick havoc, but always with a happy ending and a reassertion that despite their differences Cat and Dumpling will always be the very best of friends. In The Talent Show, Cat and Dumpling are having a Quiet Day in the garden. It's the ideal day for Dumpling, but Cat wants to do something exciting. Signing up for the talent show seems like the perfect solution, until Cat learns that Dumpling doesn't want to join her. Even worse, Dumpling starts to feel left out, and after a squabble, the two become rivals in the talent show. How can they possibly remain friends now? Look out for the first book in the series: Cat and Dumpling: Home Sweet Home.

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Nicola spent ten years as a TV producer, making shows about subjects ranging from problem pets to priceless paintings. Then, after her children were born, she decided to follow her dream of becoming an author and illustrator of children's books. She went back to college to do an MA in Children's Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art. Her debut book, The Strongest Mum, was shortlisted for the World Illustration Awards in 2019 and she was awarded the Independent Booksellers' Best New Illustrator Award, 2019. Cat and Dumpling is Nicola's first chapter book series. It has been specifically designed as a child's very first, sharable chapter book series.