These links show the original reading lists. Inclusion is not a guarantee of suitability for your child.
Kate Saunders - Author
This is a grief-centred fantasy in which imaginative play becomes a route into mystery and connection. Talking toys and humorous moments sit alongside bereavement, school loneliness and questions about whether the imagined world can be safely reached.
Emily misses Holly and Bluey; Ruth’s earlier imaginary world is linked to her dead son’s toys.Exploratory / explanatoryExploratory / explanatory: the book explains or explores the subject without an established evaluative position.Exploratory / explanatory: the book explains or explores the subject without an established evaluative position.
How the book presents it: The story gives grief substantial emotional weight while exploring how love and imagination remain connected to someone who has died.
Talk about: How does the story distinguish remembering someone from trying to reach them?
Imagination and reality
Smockeroon is presented as a toy world whose boundary with the real world has been left open, allowing toys to escape.AmbiguousAmbiguous: the book leaves its position open to more than one reasonable reading.Ambiguous: the book leaves its position open to more than one reasonable reading.
How the book presents it: Imagination is treated as powerful and connective, but the breach also introduces danger and difficult choices rather than simple comfort.
Talk about: If imagination becomes risky as well as comforting, how should Emily judge what to pursue?
Friendship and isolation
Emily starts at secondary school, feels stressed, and is lonely when her best friend Maze ignores or abandons her; Ruth becomes a comforting ally.UnresolvedUnresolved: the issue remains unsettled by the end of the book.Unresolved: the issue remains unsettled by the end of the book.
How the book presents it: The book clearly places grief alongside social isolation and a supportive new relationship, but the broader judgement of the friendship conflict is unclear.
Talk about: If a friendship becomes distant during a difficult time, what kinds of support might still be possible?
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Why It May Be Worth Reading
It may offer a child language for missing someone while showing grief alongside love, family life, friendship difficulties and imaginative comfort. Its shifts between poignancy, humour and supernatural adventure may invite different emotional responses.
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What Deserves Attention
The death of Emily’s sister is central, and another bereaved character is connected to living toys. Emily also feels frightened by Holly’s empty bedroom, lonely at school and troubled by a friend’s withdrawal.
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A Conversation Worth Having
How might a reader understand the connection between imagination, memory and grief here? If the boundary between worlds feels frightening, what helps Emily and Ruth decide what risks are worth taking?
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Reading Approach
Consider reading alongside the child rather than presenting it as a grief lesson. Pause after the bereavement or frightening scenes, ask how the mood has changed, and let the child decide whether to continue immediately.
Confidence & Basis
Theme indicators describe how the book presents a topic; they are not a verdict on the whole book or your family's values. Confidence reflects how much book-specific material was checked. Only part of the book information was available, so some details remain unconfirmed.
What remains unconfirmed
Grief and continuing bonds: The ending’s treatment of bereavement and whether it offers resolution are not established.
Imagination and reality: The full rules of Smockeroon and the consequences of closing the breach are not established.
Friendship and isolation: The reasons for Maze’s behaviour and the eventual state of that friendship are not established.
Suitabook