Marlon is now slightly older and is faced with the problem of how to amuse himself, having exhausted all the appeal of creating intergalactic battles with his long-suffering mum's furniture. "I wish I had someone to play with" complains Marlon, and goes off in search of companions Alligatina, Boomps-a-daisy and Basher.
He finds the friends dressed as the three Musketeers, but they're reluctant to let him join in their fun—"We'll think about it" being their refrain. Marlon persuades his mum and grumpy Granny to help him put together a dressing-up costume, but finds that his monster friends keep changing their game and he's still excluded! However, the tables are turned when Marlon's luxurious paddling pool appears in his back garden.
The Last Noo-Noo
"Winner of the Smarties Book Prize"
Marlon's granny thinks that he's too old to still have a dummy, but Marlon loves his dummy, or "noo-noo" as he calls it. When his mum tries to throw the all the noo-noos away he hides them down the side of the armchair, in his toys, even in his wellington boots.
Marlon doesn't care if he gets teased about still having a dummy and he's not giving it up until he wants to!