I would never have read this book if it hadn't been shortlisted for the Concorde Book Awards 2020. I don't know what it is, something about the cover just makes me feel bored when I look at it.
But I would have missed out on a treat.
This is a children's book. But it is written so well that I think any adult could enjoy reading it.
The story begins very suddenly by mentioning Holly's death. Usually children's book don't deal with something quite so raw in such a direct way, and that is the whole point of the story.
Grief is devastating, but a dead family member cannot be forgotten or hidden from memory. Children who have lost someone need support and encouragement from all angles.
There are lots of lessons in this story, for those who have lost anybody but also for those who haven't.
At first I thought the toys would be an annoying part of the book, but actually some of the "Smockeroon" scenes had me laughing in earnest. A cuckoo clock whose cuckoo can't be bothered to come out to tell the time so sends a text message instead? Fantastic. A barbie doll who became a nun because of a dark past? Hilarious. All the way through the story were aspects that made the novel slightly 'classier' than your average children's fiction.
You know that feeling you had as a child when an adult would talk to you as if you were also an adult? A refreshing experience, because so many adults don't have any time for children whatsoever. Then that person comes along and makes you feel like you're no lesser than any of the other people in the room, despite being younger. Well, this book was written in a way that provoked the same kind of feeling. We honestly need more children authors like Kate Saunders, addressing their audience in a funny, interesting yet also quite serious way.