Monday 3 June 2019

The Missing Bookshop by Katy Clapham and illustrated by Kirsti Beautyman


*This book was gifted to me by Stripes Publishing, in return for an honest review*

What a delight this book was to devour!
This is a bit younger than I would normally read, but I was so enchanted by the title and the cover, that I couldn't resist reading it. 
Milly visits Minty's Bookshop every week with her mum for story time. It's her favourite part of the week. She likes to save all her pocket money up, just so that she can buy a book of her very own to read. On one of her visits, Milly starts to notice how everything is starting to look old in the bookshop, even Mrs Minty herself. Milly finds herself worrying about the future of Minty's.  This is only exacerbated when on their next weekly visit, Milly discovers the bookshop is closed. Milly worries what might have happened to Mrs Minty and whether the bookshop will ever reopen. 
The characters are simply heartwarming. Milly has such a caring nature for someone so young. And who hasn't come across a Mrs Minty in their life, who inspired their first love of reading. 
This book is told with such warmth and gentleness, yet it deals with such a big issue. It shows how important stories are to the world. Where would we be without fiction to enchant us and escape too? Imagine a world where we couldn't travel to distant lands, or step back in time, or even become a different person through our characters. 
I can't say whether I preferred the story or the illustrations, because they both complement each other so beautifully. It's one of those books you can imagine children returning to time and time again. A perfect bedtime read and one I would insist on buying for any child I know. 
Inspire a child to develop a love of reading now with this little gem. 

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