Gracie is enchanted by the wonderful scenes

The Marvellous Squishy Itty Bitty
Beatrice Alemagna
Thames & Hudson
Five and a half year old Edith, commonly known as Eddie, longs to be good at something, like the rest of her talented family and when she hears her sister using the words “present… Mum… birthday… fluffy… squishy…itty… bitty…“ she is determined to get her Mum an amazing present too; but what?
Off she sets on her search, first stop Bruno’s bakery, crammed full of tasty treats. He doesn’t have a “Fluffy Squishy Itty Bitty” on sale though he does offer a sticky bun. Into Eddie’s bag it goes and off she dashes to the florists.

Wendy has no “furry squirty” objects and offers instead a lucky four-leaf clover. That too goes in the bag and it’s on to Mimi’s fashion shop, a promising establishment full of furry, feathery things. There however, she has to accept a pearl button and move on towards the antique shop owned by her friend, Emmett.

His misinterpretation results in the addition of a Threepenny green – a very rare stamp – to her unlikely assortment of bits and bobs; and it’s a somewhat disheartened Eddie who wanders on to her last hope, the butcher’s shop but Theo sends her packing straightaway. (I have to say this veggie reviewer dashed past Theo’s establishment rather than join the long queue.)
So, it’s an even more dispirited little girl who seeks shelter from the snow beneath a roof; but it’s there that she discovers a very odd-looking creature that just happens to be all that she’s been seeking for that perfect and amazingly versatile present.

… useful for so many things!

That’s not quite the end of the story though. Suffice it to say however, after some further trials and tribulations, our young heroine is able to present her Mum with the an absolutely splendid birthday gift and in so doing has discovered her own special gift too.
This quirky tale is full of wacky characters, the most delightful of all being of course, the fluorescent pink coated Eddie herself: her perseverance and resourcefulness and imagination are assuredly something to celebrate.
I love everything about the book: its richly detailed scenes of the various shops inside and out, that Eddie visits:

the playful language of the first person narrative, and the matt ivory paper which makes for a seductive French ambiance. Delicious.

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