Vlad and the Florence Nightingale Adventure - Kate Cunningham

Vlad the flea and his friend Loxton the rat have found their perfect home in the dirt and filth of Scutari Hospital in 1854. However, the arrival of Florence Nightingale and her team of nurses looks set to put an end to all that. Along with her pet tortoise, Jimmy, the nurses set about transforming the grim conditions and getting rid of those who created the situation. Vlad and Loxton are not the only ones profiting from the confusion and soon they find themselves up against the corrupt quartermaster, and unlikely allies with Jimmy.

This full colour illustrated picture book is part of the Flea in history series, narrated by Vlad, a cheeky participant in the action. All stories take place in a historically accurate setting and feature a fact file at the end of the book to ensure readers understand what parts of the story are real and which have been fictionalised. The images too are full of period detail and the story includes cameo appearances by Mary Seacole on her way to the front, and Alexis Soyer, the humanitarian chef who contributed to the welfare of many soldiers with his invention of a field stove.

The book is written and illustrated by the mother and son team who also created Vlad and the Great Fire of London and Vlad and the First World War. All the books fit with the English National Curriculum and are used extensively in schools.