E. S. P.

by Dick King-Smith; Peter Wingham, Peter Wingham (Illustrator)

Old Smelly loves to bet on the horse races, but he never has much luck - until he meets Eric Stanley Pigeon, that is. For this young bird has a very unusual talent... Old Smelly dreams of winning a fortune, but will his dreams come true?

Genres: Childrens, Fiction

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Charlotte]

This book is about a pigeon that has a very special talent- to know which horse is going to win in the races. The local tramp that lives in the park realises this talent and so uses Eric Stanley Pigeon to make some money and smarten up a bit, whilst feeding Eric good food in return. However, one day Old Smelly, the tramp loses all his savings by gambling on the wrong horse, that he thinks Eric has shown him will win, when infact it was another pigeon. I found the way the book is written to be quite slow and a little bit old fashioned- some of the way things are written or expressed seem to be a bit out of date, although it was written quite a long time ago. There is a lot of humour within the book which children would be able to relate to and laugh about with their friends. Also the illustrations running throughout the book help to really build up a picture of what the story is all about. It's a good book for year 2 or year 3 children to read aloud, on their own or during guided reading.

[Michelle Wiles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely children's book about a young pigeon and a tramp. I really liked it.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

51 - 2017

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Other than the partial gambling theme this winsome tale has everything good going for it. The characters and the story will have your sympathy within minutes.

Loved it.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

How many reviews for Dick King-Smith can a person write?
Essentially, all his stories are the same.
Good, and all the same quality of goodness.