Books with author Alison Illustrated By Margaret Tempest Uttley

When Squirrel, Hare and Little Grey Rabbit come down with colds, their friends decide the only cure is a trip to the seaside. They pack a tent, a hamper and a bucket and spade and set off along the winding lanes to the sandy cove below the cliffs. It's not long before everyone is enjoying the bracing sea breeze and the rolling green tide. Water Rat and Hare swim in the shallows, Squirrel makes a cockleshell hat and dances near the waves. All of a sudden, mischievous seagulls descend; they steal Hare's red coat and Water Rat's frills! Will these naughty birds spoil the friends' special day out?

Squirrel, Hare and little Grey Rabbit have all caught colds. Whilst they suck butterscotch and sip blackcurrant tea, their friends bustle about bringing remedies. What they really need, though, says Mrs Hedgehog, is a change of air! "They ought to have a day at the sea," advises Wise Owl. "You'll get rid of your sneezes when you feel the sea breezes." So, in a blue caravan drawn by Duke the horse, Hare, Squirrel, little Grey Rabbit and all their friends set off for the sea. At journey's end, when they feel the warm sand under their feet and the sea air in their fur and feathers, all the animals are filled with joy. Little curling waves sing to Grey Rabbit, Squirrel goes paddling and Hare braves a swim. But the seaside is not quite as restful as it appears: wild gulls and cliff-top climbing make everyone's hearts beat faster. At the end of a happy day, as the setting sun casts a golden pathway in the waves, the party of sleepy friends clamber into the caravan, and Duke takes them home. AGE 4-8