This Yellow Banana book, specially aimed at bridging the gap between picture books and novels, covers the twin modern themes of the environment and technology. A dreadful oil spillage in the Arctic threatens the life of the animals, especially the polar bears, in the region. Lovel, the polar bear narrator from Billy's CD Rom game visits him and asks for his help. Together with his classmates, Billy sets about raising money to help the campaign to clean up the mess left by the spillage. They also use their new computer to send e-mails to all the world leaders to persuade them to reduce the amount of oil pollution in the world. This is a magical and thought-provoking story for young readers, with an authentic setting and a highly topical theme. --Philippa Reece