Erik, the Monkey in Our Loft is a charming and nostalgic story for young listeners and readers. ( and all young at heart)

Colin Darren has written a beautiful tale for under 7s that celebrates the magic of Christmas and the stories we tell our young to make a a piece of magic .

Young Gabriel hears a noise in the attic and Grandad tells him that it's Erik the monkey who makes Christmas trees and decorations. Gabriel is enthralled and asks more questions - discovering that Erik is assisted by a family of hamsters and an elephant called Edwin to help carry the trees and boxes. Gabriel writes a letter to Erik requesting a tree for his mum and dad.

This is a book full of wonderful imagery and the innocence of Christmas' past for all adults when the young have the awe and wonder that makes it a magical time. This is a love letter from a grandad to husband grandson.

A festive bedtime story or read or a KS1 /EYFS Christmas story - Highly recommended .

Thank you to Troubadour publishing and Netgalley for the advance copy and an honest review.

Grandad tells Gabriel that there's a monkey in the attic, Erik, who spends the year making special Christmas decorations. Gabriel gets excited and asks if he writes Erik a letter, they might get a special Christmas tree from him. Sure enough, a tree soon appears!

It would have been a cute story to tell my kids but they would have been up there in the attic, looking for the monkey...

This was an interesting take on the "magic of Christmas" and how everything gets done. The illustrations were beautifully done.

This was a sweet story. The grandad made up a fantastical story for his Grandson at Christmas time to explain away a noise. I enjoyed the illustration.