Hodder Children’s Books ISBN 9781444941364 £12.99
I found this book rather a struggle to engage with initially. The somewhat simplistic, and at times clumsy, language jarred as I read and I found the consistent emboldening of selected words and phrases throughout the text rather distracting. It tells the tale of Chloe, who on her eleventh birthday, miserable with her parents’ seemingly dismissive attitude towards her, lost her smile. The subsequent quest to find it takes us on a journey into Chloe’s own ‘Imaginary Land’ where she finds her wildest joys alongside a raft of quests and challenges. The more I read the more it absorbed me, and the ultimate message of the story, that if one has hope, courage and love you can always find a smile, is salutary. There is of course the obligatory happy-ending, and there are no sophisticated surprises but that is fine. I ended up really enjoying the story, and although I maintain that I have read better fiction from far lesser known authors, The Girl with the Lost Smile really found its way into my head. Of all the children’s books that I have read recently this is the one I find myself thinking about and I keep finding myself smiling at dour strangers – just like Chloe! Age range: 9-11.
Louise M. Smith, teacher, The Glasgow Academy