Review of Rex

Hurrah for school pets and the imagination is the message of Rex by Ursula Dubosarsky, illustrated by David Mackintosh (Puffin, £10.99), a bewitching story of Rex, the class chameleon. Every day someone gets to take Rex home, along with a book to write down all his adventures. In the vivid imaginations of the children Rex becomes a massive dinosaur, and gets up to everything from breathing fire into a skyscraper to being dressed up like Malibu Barbie. The design is energetic, with a naive intensity that perceptively captures a child's world.