The Land of Neverendings

June 1, 2018

Gr 4-7-British author Saunders (Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop) weaves a novel replete with everything from whimsical comicality to impending danger. The book begins after Emily's sister, Holly, dies after a longtime illness. While Emily and her family are grappling with their loss, Emily is surprised that she finds herself missing Holly's beloved teddy bear, Bluey, almost as much as Holly herself. Emily's bond with Holly was closely tied to Bluey, as she used him as a conduit to create stories about their imaginary world of Smockeroon. Bewildering to Emily at first, it soon becomes evident that Smockeroon may not be entirely imaginary; stuffed animals are coming to life and appearing in her bedroom. Emily befriends her elderly neighbor, Ruth, who has similarly experienced a loss of a child, and also seems to be witnessing the crossover of stuffed animals, including Hugo the penguin and Smiffy the Bear. The toys from Smockeroon offer up their unique form of hilarity, from refined penguins who open up a bed and breakfast, to Barbie nuns, to "Prizzy" the prison doll who is always in trouble. When a terrible toad threatens to bring sadness to all of Smockeroon, it is up to Ruth, Emily, and Emily's friend, Martha, to figure out what has broken the barrier between the two worlds, why it is occurring, and to fix things before the two worlds collide. A standalone title, in which the topic of loss is dealt with deftly. VERDICT For readers willing to let their imagination soar, this fantasy may be just what they are looking for, especially if they have experienced grief.-Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2018
A grieving girl finds herself slipping into an imaginary world. Since the death of her older, severely disabled sister, Holly, Emily dwells on stories she created for Holly about her sister's teddy bear, Bluey, and the invented land of Smockeroon. Stressed at school, where no one knows about Holly, and lonely because her best friend has abandoned her, Emily spends time with her neighbor Ruth, a comforting ally who shares the imaginary world she once created for her son before his death, which he called the Land of Neverendings. After Emily experiences escalating visitations from talking toys from Smockeroon who know Bluey, she discovers Ruth's having similar bizarre encounters. Apparently, the door linking Smockeroon to the real world's broken, allowing rogue toys to escape. Emily longs to go to Smockeroon to find Bluey--and Holly--but knows she and Ruth must somehow close the breach. Casting Emily as Alice in her class production of Alice in Wonderland, Saunders allows Emily to draw parallels between herself and legendary Alice. References to Winnie-the-Pooh, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and At the Back of the North Wind aptly invoke other imaginary worlds. Even though the surreal cast of meddling toys adds some levity and blurs the line between fantasy and reality, Emily's grief feels real indeed. Her little English village seems to be a largely white one.An imaginative, magical story ideal for kids experiencing loss. (Fantasy. 10-12)

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July 1, 2018
Grades 4-6 After the death of her beloved, disabled sister Holly, Emily struggles with grief and longing. For years, she had amused Holly with tales of her teddy bear, Bluey, in the land of Smockeroon. Grief has made home a silent place, but Emily finds comfort in talking with Ruth, a family friend who has experienced loss. Awakening one night to find toy animals talking, playing, and singing in her room, Emily talks with them about their world. They return repeatedly. Her intense yearning to contact Holly eases somewhat when she enters Smockeroon and catches a glimpse of Bluey. The author's note mentions her influences for this unusual book: Boxen, the imaginary world created by C. S. Lewis and his brother as children, and her memories of her son who died at 19, and, as a young child, loved hearing stories of his own stuffed animals' adventures. Saunders combines the hard reality of loss and the soft comfort of fantasy surprisingly well, offering unexpected humor in Smockeroon as well as sharp insights into human characters.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

September 1, 2018
After her beloved older sister Holly's sudden death, Emily begins to be visited by inhabitants of Smockeroon, the fantasy land Emily had created for Holly (who had significant disabilities)?a world where toys came to life. As the toys, from Barbie nuns to a grubby ragdoll named Prison Wendy, turn up in the hard world (real life) and report on the doings in Smockeroon?doings that are both hilariously loopy and dramatic?Emily conceives the idea that if she herself could go to Smockeroon, she could find Holly. Boundaries blur as first Emily's neighbor, a woman who lost a son years ago, and then her school friend Martha also gain a window into Smockeroon. Tension rises as the leaks between worlds proliferate. Inspired by Boxen, the imaginary land that C. S. Lewis created with his brother, this unusual grief narrative excels at re-creating imaginative play with running jokes, silly wordplay, absurdity, and intensity. With this novel, Saunders (Five Children on the Western Front, rev. 9/16) joins Emily Jenkins (Toys Go Out) and Lissa Evans (Wed Wabbit, rev. 3/18) as an adept reporter from the imaginative world of toys. The story is also wise in the ways of loss as Emily discovers that the route through grief lies not in escaping to Smockeroon but in engaging with the hard world, in the passage of time, in friendship, memory, and, above all, storytelling. sarah ellis

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2019
After her sister Holly's death, Emily is visited by inhabitants of Smockeroon, the fantasyland Emily had created for Holly where toys came to life. This unusual grief narrative excels at re-creating imaginative play with running jokes, silly wordplay, absurdity, and intensity. The story is wise in the ways of loss as Emily discovers that the route through grief lies in engaging with the world.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)