I have wanted to read this ever since the BBC Christmas adaption of it last year. Despite buying this back in January, I only just got around to reading it!

Synopsis (as taken from Amazon) is as follows:

Welcome to the Midnight Gang! Midnight is the time when all children are fast asleep, except of course for…the Midnight Gang. That is when their adventures are just beginning.

When Tom gets hit on the head by a cricket ball, he finds himself at Lord Funt Hospital, and is greeted by a terrifying-looking porter. Things go from bad to worse when he meets the wicked matron in charge of the children’s ward…But Tom is about to embark on the most thrilling journey of a lifetime!

The Midnight Gang tells an extraordinary heartwarming and, of course, funny story of five children on a hospital ward – and on a quest for adventure! It is a story of friendship and magic – and of making dreams come true. Readers are set to be utterly spellbound by this heartfelt story that will bring magic to everyone.

Ability to read – This was very easy to get into. I’ve wanted to read it ever since the BBC adaptation of it last Christmas. It was truly imaginative to read and from the first page I was hooked on the magic of the story.

Characterisation – I haven’t read any of David Walliam’s books before, so didn’t know what to expect when reading this. I found the characters to have a lot of heart and could clearly see each character individually. There was a lot that played on my heartstrings from Porter’s unfortunate background, to Tom’s need to fit in and Sally’s terrible illness. Through the work of the Midnight Gang, I got to see the vulnerable side of the characters and watch their dreams come true.

Visualisation – It was easy to visualise what was happening. Walliam’s writes with childlike imagination. The words jump off the page and the illustrations were wonderful and helped my imagination make a clear visualisation of going-ons.

Uniqueness – This was a great, happy and hopeful story to read. A story to cheer you up and to make you realise that life isn’t that bad. The style of this was so unique and not something I’ve come across since reading Roald Dahl.

Star Rating – ★★★★★