The Missing Piece by Jordan Stephens illustrated by Beth Suzanna
Published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books
£7.99 paperback
Reviewed by Nicky Mathewson
“The only thing that Sunny loved more than chocolate biscuits was the sweet, dusty chaos of an unfinished jigsaw puzzle”
A girl after my own heart! Sunny loves puzzles and experiences great joy and satisfaction when she completes one. The connecting pieces hugging together tightly to make something whole is a feeling she doesn’t want to let go of. She wants to hold on to that feeling forever and is worried about how sad she would feel if there were no more puzzles left for her to complete. When her latest puzzle is missing a piece she turns to her gran for help and with gran’s wisdom and guidance, Sunny embarks on an adventure to find the missing piece. The adventure is very local, but it takes her from house to house, from family to family in her own neighbourhood, a journey that sparks interest and brings along new friends.
This beautifully told story of reaching beyond what you know and who you know to broaden your horizons, is full of warmth and happiness. The illustrations are a riot of colour which makes that warmth leap from the pages.
I adore this book for the story, the message and the delightful artwork.
