Ron the royal guard by Deano Yipadee

Illus. by Paul Beavis. New Frontier Books, 2019. ISBN: 9781925594614.
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Themes: Toilets, Buckingham Palace, Corgis, Humour. When Ron is on duty at the palace, he never tires of people taking selfies with him or the royal corgis scuttling around his feet. He loves guarding the queen and the others inside the palace, but really looks forward to his shift's end when he can relax, take off his uniform and have a cup of tea.
Told in rhyming couplets, the story moves along breezily, encouraging young readers to learn the lines and join in, predicting the rhyming word and call out the words in bold.
But one day after having three cups of tea while relaxing, he finds that back on his shift, he desperately needs the toilet. Readers will laugh out loud at his predicament, mist of them having been in the same situation themselves. They will laugh at the words used for toilet as the lines proceed, and the increasingly funny looks on his face as the situation becomes dire.
A solution seems near but the tourists do not want to dress up as him while he makes a quick trip, and he must be more imaginative to solve his problem. Even the queen does not see the trick he has played as she walks past and says good morning to Ron.
A very funny look at a known situation, children will regale the class with anecdotes of when they were in need, and this will lead to discussions of what to do. The funny illustrations are enticing, causing lots of laughter and sympathy with poor Ron, and the humour behind the tale will not be lost on the audience. And what child can resist the cover cut out.
Fran Knight