Humour

The Queen's Nose

Author Dick King-Smith

  • Story

    Harmony really wants a pet of her own but her parents won’t let her. In fact she loves animals so much that she sees people as them – her father is a sea lion, her mother a pigeon and her sister, Melody, a Siamese cat.  Uncle Ginger is a grizzly bear and it is Uncle Ginger who introduces her to the Queen’s Nose, a very usual 50p piece which grants wishes. Harmony, however, discovers that not all wishes are what they seem and you must be careful what you wish for.

  • Why we chose it

    A story about wishing with gentle humour and a great main character – much loved both as a book and as a television series.

  • What a young reviewer said

    A nice magical book. I think children in Year 2 to Year 6 would enjoy it. (Alicia)

  • First published

    1983, Gollancz, London

Story Reviews

Our reviews come from a team of young story lovers! If you’re aged 8–16 and keen to join in, learn how to become a reviewer for The Story Museum. 

I think it is a nice magical book because Harmony uses her last wish for something very very important. I think children in Year 2 to Year 6 would enjoy this book. It was an interesting story. I liked the characters of Uncle Ginger and Harmony. Uncle Ginger makes her a treasure hunt when he is leaving and at the end there is a magical coin. If you rub the side that the nose is pointing to, you get 7 wishes.

Alicia