Bloomsbury

Published	02 Nov 2021
Format	Paperback
Edition	1st
Extent	288
ISBN	9781526641915
Imprint	Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Dimensions	198 x 129 mm
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

RRP $14.99

Every now and then a book comes along that is just so utterly charming that it nestles straight into your heart immediately. It doesn’t happen very often but when it does, you just know it’s a book that will stay with you forever. That’s exactly how I feel about this delightful and heart-warming story which is so very perfect for a Christmas read.

It is 1952 in post-war London and Penny Black (clever!) is feeling quite lonely. After losing her dad in the war, it’s just been Penny and her mum, which can become tricky, as her mother is a pilot flying mail planes. When her mother gets caught up in France due to extreme fog, Penny is sent to stay with her Uncle Frank, a rather taciturn London postmaster, who is far from child-friendly really. Uncle Frank is even grumpier when he discovers that Penny has released a ‘rat’ from the trap in the post office. Of course, the creature is not a rat at all. It is Wishyouwas, a Sorter, and one of a whole crowd of secret little critters who take on big responsibilities in getting mail – especially lost letters- to the rightful recipients.

When Wishyouwas shows Penny the hidden underworld beneath the street of London, where he and his friends live and work, he gets into a lot of trouble from his higher-ups but worse than this, a nasty human called Stanley Scrawl, employed by HM Royal Mail as official rat-catcher is determined to sabotage the little furred mail guardians and, at the same time, provide himself with both kudos and rewards. He really is quite odious and thoroughly deserves to be caught in a rat trap himself!

Any readers from around 8 or 9 years upwards to around 13ish would thoroughly enjoy this book and if you are looking for the perfect book to gift for Christmas or, indeed, to read aloud over the festive season, you should make this a top choice. I, for one, would enjoy more stories of the fluffy little mail guardians should they come along. I highly recommend it to you for either your library or classroom collection or your own personal bookshelves.