The Secret Life of Moles

Liz Burgess

Liz Burgess has always held a keen interest in nature, especially small furry mammals!
Long fascinated by their secret activities at home in her own back garden, and the fields surrounding it, she decided to explore this special underground world, and find out more about moles and their other little friends. Liz Burgess lives in South Yorkshire and The Secret Life of Moles is her first book for children.

This is a wonderfully written story about a mole who wants to find a new home but comes across an issue straight away. Unfortunately his home is in the middle of a garden owned by humans and they do not like the mole hill he creates. Thus to ensure that the moles disappear, they put a hose into the hole to wash the moles away. Undettered, the mole returns to the garden the next night and talks to his friend, the Hedgehog and asks if he knows what happened. The story unfolds to leave lots of wildlife animals helping the moles create a new home for themselves in the garden so that the humans do not try and wash them out again!
It’s a lovely story of friendship and teamwork. I loved the fun descriptive words the author has used for the different animals that you come across too – such as house tigers for cats and barking tigers for dogs! It’s laid out in a very child-friendly way. However, with very little pictures – and the ones that are there being black and white – I would believe this book is better for an older audience, perhaps children who are just thinking about learning to read themselves or who want longer picture books as the story is also quite wordy. So probably perfect for kids between 5 and 8.
All in all, I definitely recommend this book as even as an adult I really enjoyed the story and I am positive that children will enjoy it too!