THE BOY JONES

A highly central character is an ingratiating London street urchin, bent on seeing the inside of Buckingham Palace. It took a few years of scheming -- and his friendship with Lady Sandwich -- and a good deal of enterprise to achieve his goal, but ultimately he was there as an efficient and mannerly footman, unrecognisable as that small interloper, the boy Jones. The story has real flavor -- a good family read-aloud tale.