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Milo is returning his Granny's umbrella to her. As he sets out, it begins to rain. One thing leads to another, and he finds himself caught up in a thrilling adventure involving a whale, pirates, dinosaurs and aliens. He swings between good news and bad news as he gets up to all sorts of scrapes and japes. Will Granny ever get her umbrella in one piece?

Michael Foreman's version has lots of high-energy excitement and adventure. Alan Durant's does too, but is just that bit more cohesive, rather than piling dinosaurs and aliens on top of pirates. Michael Foreman's illustrations are as charming as ever, but Simon Rickerty in Alan Durant's version has a fresh and original style that captures the imagination. Michael Foreman has a great sense of fun and a nice twist in the tail, but Alan Durant goes all out with the denouement and has a super sense of comic timing. ''Fortunately, Unfortunately'' IS a good book, but unfortunately ''Unfortunately'' is better. (I think that makes sense!)

If you're particularly a Michael Foreman fan, then it's the choice for you. In all other situations, there is an alternative that offers an almost identical story (not that good news/bad news is a particularly original idea in either book), but that sits high on the list of our very favourite books this year. It feels a little unfair to judge ''Fortunately, Unfortunately'' in those circumstances, but that's the way it goes.

Other than [[Unfortunately by Alan Durant and Simon Rickerty]], great choices for further reading include the high energy of [[Big Bad Bun by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross]], [[Martha, No! by Edward Hardy and Deborah Allwright]] and [[Mr Chicken Goes To Paris by Leigh Hobbs]].