Cress Watercress by Gregory Maguire illustrated by David Litchfield

Cress, along with her mother and baby brother Kip, need to leave their home and seek a new place to live. Her father has disappeared and may never return. Mama has negotiated with Mr Owl, who is the landlord of a run-down apartment tree called Broken Arms. Cress, Mama and Kip can move into the lowest level as long as they can find the rent of ten dead moths each day. The building houses a myriad of characters. The Super is a nosy mouse. On another level there is a family of squirrels who have four wild children and near the top live a pair of songbirds who like to share all the gossip. 

Danger is always close. There is a huge honey bear called Tunk and the threat of a snake, who we never see but constantly feel is close, called the Final Drainpipe.  Adding to the mayhem as Cress, Mama and Kip make their journey to Broken Arms they meet a skunk named Lady Agatha Cabbage and her pet/captive chinchilla. Lady Cabbage is not exactly sinister but she is slightly dangerous. I also need to mention Kip's comfort toy - Rotty which is a soft toy carrot!

As the story unfolds we see Cress adjusting to her new life and testing the limits of her mother's patience. Each day brings new adventures, some quite exciting. Over the year Cress discovers so much about herself, about growing up and she gains an awareness of the way others react to events. She also explores her new environment and finds a way to share her true talent which is kindness. 

The production values of this book are simply wonderful. My hardback copy has a dust jacket and under the dust jacket the cover is different - a tiny gold silhouette of Cress herself. The end papers are also, as you would expect, perfect. They show the weaving done by Cress's mother. This book has 35 very short chapters and rich digital full page illustrations. 

David Litchfield explains his process: I like to experiment with textures a lot, so a big part of the process was taken up with making a mess with watercolour paints and just creating a lot of interesting and colourful washes to use as backgrounds and overlays. I also took a lot of close-up photographs of things like tree bark and sunsets. Once I had collected these many textures, I scanned them all into my computer and spent a fair bit of time experimenting with overlaying them with each other and just playing around with them. 

See more art from this book here

Here is an audio interview with the author. If you listen the presenter begins by reading the blurb. Here is a School Library Journal chat with Gregory Maguire and David Litchfield. 

Maguire’s narrative offers wry puns, rich vocabulary, and entertaining dialogue, and Litchfield’s glowing, slightly stylized, full-color illustrations present an enchanting, magical peek into this woodland world. ... Warmhearted and utterly charming. Kirkus Star review

With its brisk plot, witty details, and thought-provoking concepts, this gloriously illustrated chapter book makes an ideal read-alone or family read-aloud. Horn Book

This story has a Wind in the Willows flavour, characters that reminded me of the guys in Skunk and Badger and perhaps a slight feel of The Mouse and his Child. Commentators mention EB White and while I cannot link this book with Stuart Little I can link it to The Trumpet of the Swan.  Companion reads:

This is the first book in a series

This is the first book in a series of four

Heartwood Hotel book One