ONE of the younger customers of The Grove Bookshop, eight-year old EVE ALLEN reviews Tom Fletcher's The Christmasaurus, published in hardback by Puffin at £12.99.

THE Christmasaurus is the story of an unexpected friendship, love and loyalty.

The writer Tom Fletcher used to be in a band, but now writes books. This is his first solo one, and the first of his I've read, so I didn't quite know what to expect. The book is really good fun and easy to read, but there is a strong message in it. It's a message that most children at school can relate to directly or know of someone in this situation - being lonely and teased. But the message doesn't make for a miserable book, and the adventures had me laughing out loud.

I really loved the main character, the Christmasouraus, a loveable dinosaur. Mumosaurus and Dadlodocus have their nest attacked, and with only one precious egg left the comet arrives which kills off all the dinosaurs. The egg drops into the sea and is frozen but then dug out by elves centuries later who take it to a jolly man in red far in the North Pole, where it hatches and the Christmasouraus is born.

An accident has The Christmasaurus hitching an unplanned lift on Santa's sleigh. A young dinosaur-loving boy called Will wakes up and spots the Christmasaurus whilst Santa is visiting the loo. But Santa leaves before the Christmasaurus can make it back to the sleigh. This first meeting with Will is hilarious, as they both roar and scream at each other in shock and the Christmasaurus ends up pulling Will along by his wheelchair as it's tangled in Christmas lights. An unexpected friendship forms which sees both characters learn about strength, bravery and love. But will the Christmasaurus get back home to Father Christmas and will Will live happily ever after? It's a fantastic twisty plot which ends with a new start for two families and a great Christmas.

We meet some fantastic characters along the way, good and bad, including the wonderfully named elves Snozzletrump and Specklehump who are crumpet-loving workers for Santa. There's the Hunter who wants to kill rare and unique animals and is lying in wait for Santa's reindeer, but spots the Christmasaurus instead. I found myself shouting out loud at the end, worried that he would shoot Father Christmas's reindeer or even the Christmasaurus.

The bully Brenda Payne is described as 'as smart as she is pretty' and turned against Will when he wheeled his chair over her foot. I found her a vile horrid girl. But when the Christmasaurus arrives the truth behind this bully's nasty actions is slowly revealed. She learns some lessons and changes her behaviour and a great friendship blossoms.

I loved the pictures of the Christmasaurus. They are so cute and I kept going back to look at them time and time again. And the Elves are really funny. They made me laugh with their poems which seem to accompany most of their actions. It's obvious that Tom Fletcher is a really good songwriter (One Direction too apparently) as his poems are great!

If you didn't love Christmas already, you will after reading this book.

I rate it 8/10