SuitabookThe Land of Neverendings
Kate Saunders
- Reading
- 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.
- Themes
- Grief and continuing bonds: Emily misses Holly and Bluey; Ruth’s earlier imaginary world is linked to her dead son’s toys. The story gives grief substantial emotional weight while exploring how love and imagination remain connected to someone who has died.
- Imagination and reality: Smockeroon is presented as a toy world whose boundary with the real world has been left open, allowing toys to escape. Imagination is treated as powerful and connective, but the breach also introduces danger and difficult choices rather than simple comfort.
- 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. The book clearly places grief alongside social isolation and a supportive new relationship, but the broader judgement of the friendship conflict is unclear.
- Worth knowing
- 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.