Edith (Eddie) is determined to find the right birthday present for her mum. She over hears some words - fluffy, squishy, itty and bitty. Armed with this knowledge she sets off into town. The friendly shop keepers supply her with curious things, which is wonderful, but none are quite right. Here is a list of the things she collects:
Baker - warm sticky bun
Florist - four leaf clover
Fashion shop - pearl button
Antique shop - a rare stamp
It starts to snow so Eddie huddles under an awning. Luckily she looks up. On the roof she spies an adorable creature. "Not very tasty, not very stylish, but fluffy, squishy, strange and rare. It was a real Fluffy Squishy Itty Bitty, the perfect present and useful for so many things!"
Now how can she retrieve this little creature. Remember all of those things she collected earlier? One reviewer describes this as a treasure hunt. Then we discover each has a role to play in a simply delightful way.
This is a story with two halves which fit neatly together. The illustrations are filled with joy and colour. Eddie is a resourceful, polite and happy girl who makes some wonderful discoveries about the "marvellous" people in her town. Kirkus use the word "effervescent" and that seems perfect!
I have included the French, UK and USA covers above. As I have mentioned previously I am again puzzled as to why the US market needed to change the title and the font. The Marvellous Squishy Itty Bitty (under the title The wonderful fluffy little squishy) won the 2016 Mildred L Batchelder award. Take a look at Playing by the Book where you can see some ideas for using this book in your family and view the delightful Thames and Hudson book trailer. In this post Beatrice talks about writing and illustrating her book. Here is the web site for Beatrice Alemagna where you can see her other books.
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