The Missing Piece by Jordan Stephens illustrated by Beth Suzanna

Sunny loves to work on and complete jigsaw puzzles. 

"Every piece was connected and every piece was important."
"Whenever Sunny finished a puzzle she would feel a warm, honey-tickle of happiness in her chest."

One day Sunny asked her grandmother what happens when she runs out of puzzles. Grandma is so wise. She gives Sunny a 1000-piece puzzle but what Sunny does not know just yet is that one piece is missing. This puzzle has been shared with many of their neighbors so Sunny has to go door knocking to ask if anyone has the all-important puzzle piece. Each house she visits is different:

"The Jack family's house smelled of warm bread and looked like milky tea."

"The Patel house smelled of spices and looked like a waving candle."

"The Stephens house smelled like an ocean breeze and looked like a coral reef."

So, Sunny meets Violet, Ravi and Gabriel and along the way she finds three new friends and discovers just how wise her grandmother truly is. 

Image source: Bloomsbury

Have you guessed about the missing puzzle piece - yes Grandma had it all along in her pocket.

There are two covers at the top of this post because the paperback edition has changed the colour of the cover to yellow - I wonder why? 

Luckily, I did not know this is one of those 'celebrity books' and that Jordan Stephens is a writer and performer best known for being one half of pop duo Rizzle Kick. I have deep reservations about 'celebrities' who write children's books. Read what my blogger/review hero Betsy Bird has to say about this phenomenon. 

The Missing Piece has much to tell us about friends, family, and learning new truths about ourselves. The concept behind the book works well on both a realistic and a metaphorical level and could be read aloud in class or form part of a class library for children to browse through independently. Just Imagine

The author’s late grandmothers were his inspiration for this beautiful debut picture book story that contains a powerful message about empathy, opening our hearts and minds to what life’s journey has to offer, and the importance of family and friends. I love his descriptions of the various homes Sunny calls at and positive responses she receives from the young residents. Equally uplifting and heart-warming are debut illustrator, Beth Suzanna’s bold, bright scenes of Sunny’s learning journey as she searches for wholeness. Books for Keeps

Awards:

• Shorlisted for the Inclusive Books for Children award 2024
• Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2023

Of course you will want to read this book too:

Jigsaw: a puzzle in the post

Here is a companion book which also demonstrates the wisdom of a grandmother who can see that her grandchild needs to find a friend. This is a very old book and long out of print but it might be in a library.

I previously talked about What you need to be warm by Neil Gaiman. I was delighted to discover one of the contributing illustrators is Beth Suzanna.