Eight year old Matthew is hearing impaired. In these thirteen short stories, set in the north of England, he and his sister Poppy have lots of exciting adventures. Conservation issues come into the stories, including information about dolphins, birds and plant life. Matthew can lip read well and also uses hearing aids. He finds speech difficult, and the fact that he has speech therapy is mentioned. However, he overcomes this problem in several of the stories. Being a resourceful lad, he becomes something of a hero, getting himself and Poppy out of many dangerous situations. Having said all this, there are major problems with the book. There are inconsistencies of time and facts; unexplained things crop up suddenly; names change. A good copy editor would have helped. Matthew makes a good role model, and is a cheerful, likeable boy, and as Ms Colledge taught deaf children for many years, she sees them as normal ordinary children, able to lead normal (if rather more exciting than normal) lives.