Ivy & Bean meets Ranger Rick! Four kids form a club to help animals in danger. If there's a wild animal in trouble, the Animal Adventure Club are here to help! Isla, Buzz and Gracie love helping the animal rangers at their local park – and they love animals! So when a baby deer gets trapped, they're the first to the rescue. Can they save the little creature – even with new girl Lexi butting in? This heart-warming adventure story about friendship and nature is perfect for all animal-loving children who enjoy the Owl Diaries and Magic Animal Rescue books. This is the first book in an exciting new series for young environmentalists following the adventures of the Animal Adventure Club as they care for wild animals and learn about themselves along the way. 'While this book certainly will appeal to animal lovers, it also does a nice job of injecting expected norms for working successfully in a group and the importance of accepting others and being empathic.' – Youth Services Book Review 'A lovely tale of friendship, kindness and the importance of empathy with a very relevant message about taking care of our wildlife and environment at its heart... A heart-warming novel that will appeal to younger readers who love animals!' – Unicorns and Kelpies Blog 'Perfect for children embarking on their first independent reading journey. The story is exciting, and it's great to have an outdoor setting and caring characters who feel familiar. Crucially, Hannah George�s pictures are lovely and plentiful, and the language and pace of the story are comfortably manageable for newer readers.' – Roaring Reads 'Full of fascinating information about wildlife and looking after the environment, wrapped up in a great story full of excitement, adventure, friendships, and biscuits, this is a brilliant, fun read for youngsters with an interest in the great outdoors and Scotland's wildlife.' – Goodreads, John Fulton Michelle Sloan was born and brought up in Edinburgh but now lives with her family in sunny Broughty Ferry near Dundee, Scotland. She trained as a primary school teacher and has also studied drama and arts journalism. She is also the author of The Fourth Bonniest Baby in Dundee and This Bonny Baby. Hannah George is a freelance illustrator living and working on the south coast of England. She creates her illustrations using a combination of watercolour, pencil, ink and digital process, in a fluid, dynamic way. She has illustrated several children's picture books. Isla McLeod drummed her feet on the floor of the Pittendooey Nature Reserve rangers’ lodge. It was nearly four o’clock: time for the Animal Adventure Club meeting. Three afternoons a week, Isla and her friends Buzz and Gracie came to the nature reserve after school to help the rangers and, best of all, look after animals! Buzz was here, but there was no sign of Gracie. Isla couldn’t wait for her to arrive so they could go out on patrol. “Can you give me a hand with Spiky?” called Buzz. He was helping Lisa, the head ranger, to take care of an injured hedgehog. “Lisa asked me to give him his eardrops.” “Sure,” said Isla. “We can help Spiky while we wait for Gracie.” Isla jumped up and headed towards Buzz and Spiky at the far end of the room. “Oof!” she said, pinching her nose. “Spiky’s a bit smelly. Maybe we should have called him Stinky.” “That’s why we keep him back here!” Buzz laughed, and opened Spiky’s cage. There was a big pile of straw bundled in one corner. Isla put on a pair of thick gloves, then reached in and gently teased the straw away to reveal a large ball of sharp prickles. “Hello, wee pal,” said Isla softly, lifting the hedgehog out and placing him on a towel on the table. His prickles bristled. “Try stroking his back,” said Buzz. “That should relax him.” Sure enough, as Isla stroked him, the ball began to slowly unfurl. A tiny snuffly nose poked out, followed by a paw. Buzz leaned in and had a good look at the little hedgehog’s face. “He’s looking much brighter,” he said. Spiky let out a small squeak. “Cheeky thing,” said Buzz. He pulled a little bottle out of his pocket and tipped the drops into Spiky’s tiny ears. “I don’t know how you manage to find his ears under all those prickles!” laughed Isla. “You’re going to be a brilliant vet one day.” Buzz’s face went red, but he smiled. “So, what’s the Animal Adventure Club doing this afternoon?” he asked. “Never mind this afternoon – we’ve got enough jobs to last us a month!” said Isla. She grabbed her notebook out of her rucksack and read aloud: Help Lisa find good trees for hanging bat boxes, then mark them with chalk so we can find them later. - Collect bark, leaves, twigs, moss and pine cones for building bug hotels. - Make fact sheets to teach visitors about the animals in the reserve. “Whew!” said Buzz. “Sounds like hard work. Remember we’ve got to fill the bird feeders too. Speaking of feeding, I’m getting hungry before we’ve even started! Do you think we can fit in some biscuits before we go