Mattie is an ace worrier - understandable in a chaotic family of five (soon to be six) children and their dotty parents and dog. In this story, they are off to Cornwall for a two week camping holiday, and this situation gives Mattie lots more things to worry about. Will someone fall off a cliff? Will they forget something important? They do, in fact, forget Jellico, the dog! And one can only feel pity for their fellow train passengers from the description of the family getting on with all their paraphernalia. Mattie keeps a worry list, and as the journey goes on, the list grows. Cornwall is wonderful, though, and while some of her worries do come true, Mattie comes through as something of a heroine. There is fantasy involved when Mattie meets and makes friends with a young boy who turns out to have been killed in a mine disaster in Victorian times, but by and large, this is a reality story. Often very comical, Mattie and her 'funny' family are great fun and quite believable. There are wonderful descriptions of Cornwall, which the author evidently knows well and loves, and the plentiful black and white illustrations add a lot to the tale. There is a first book about Mattie - 'My Funny Family' - which I have not seen, but going by this one, should be worth a go too. Great for newly confident readers.