Smile!

Hodgkinson has created a splendidly imaginative format which engages the youngest readers from the outset, and entertains those reading to others.

When Sunny gets told she must not eat chocolate biscuits before teatime, she is very annoyed, and loses her smile. Trying to find it, she unthinkingly cheers other people (and pets) with a thoughtful word or deed, and finally the smile is rediscovered – on her face.

Charlie and Lola fans will appreciate Sunny’s similarity of speech and sentiment, and Hodgkinson’s style of bright, bold, childlike illustration. The text itself is carried in divers formats: lower case, upper case, hand-printed, and as completed hangman games. It’s large, easily read and well integrated into the images, gently easing the reader along.