Jigsaw : mystery in the mail

Title:

Author:

Graham, Bob, 1942- author.

Summary:

“Oh, let’s do it!” say Kitty and Katy and Mom when a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle mysteriously arrives in the mail. “I have time on my hands,” agrees Dad. Starting in winter with the edges, by autumn they’re almost done, only to discover that one piece is missing. Mom is sure that it must have accidentally gone out with the trash, so the Kellys pile into the car to comb through the local dump (“shouldn’t take long”). There they uncover forgotten letters, train tickets, discarded newspapers, and old photos yellow with age, but finding the missing piece is starting to seem like wishful thinking. “Let’s wish, then,” says Katy. As in all of Bob Graham’s work, the beauty here is in the details, with visual perspectives that offer a bird’s-eye view or take us underfoot, wordless sequences letting us in on a secret. Is it sheer luck—or perhaps the power of hope—that creates an ending to the story? -- Amazon.

Audience:

006-008.

Edition:

First US edition.

Reinforced trade edition.

Physical Description:

1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 30 cm

Genre:

Picture books.

Humorous fiction.

Subject Term:

Mothers and daughters -- Juvenile fiction.

Fathers and daughters -- Juvenile fiction.

Jigsaw puzzles -- Juvenile fiction.

Publisher:

Candlewick Press,

Publication Date:

2022

ISBN:

9781536224993

Publication Information:

Somerville, Massachusetts : Candlewick Press, 2022.

Call Number:

P GRAHAM

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003647735	New Picture Books	GRAHAM	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Serendipity and positive thinking come into play as a family searches for a missing puzzle piece in Bob Graham's enchanting story with a sweet surprise ending.

"Oh, let's do it!" say Kitty and Katy and Mom when a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle mysteriously arrives in the mail. "I have time on my hands," agrees Dad. Starting in winter with the edges, by autumn they're almost done, only to discover that one piece is missing. Mom is sure that it must have accidentally gone out with the trash, so the Kellys pile into the car to comb through the local dump ("shouldn't take long"). There they uncover forgotten letters, train tickets, discarded newspapers, and old photos yellow with age, but finding the missing piece is starting to seem like wishful thinking. "Let's wish, then," says Katy. As in all of Bob Graham's work, the beauty here is in the details, with visual perspectives that offer a bird's-eye view or take us underfoot, wordless sequences letting us in on a secret. Is it sheer luck--or perhaps the power of hope--that creates an ending to the story?

Author Notes

Bob Graham is the author-illustrator of many extraordinary and critically acclaimed books for children, including "Let's Get a Pup!" Said Kate ; How to Heal a Broken Wing ; April and Esme, Tooth Fairies ; The Underhills ; Max; Maxine ; and Ellie's Dragon . Bob Graham lives in Australia.

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 1--2--It is late autumn when the Kelly family receives a package containing a jigsaw puzzle of an African swimming hole at sunrise from an anonymous sender. The card reads, "Good luck to you all." The Kellys (Mom, Dad, Kitty, Katie, and Lucy the dog) happily take on the challenge. Unbeknownst to them, the illustrations show that almost immediately a puzzle piece is dropped and ends up in the trash. Life is busy, but as time permits, they work on the puzzle. It is nearly the following autumn before it is almost done and they discover, "ONE PIECE IS MISSING!" Clever Mom deducts that the piece must have been thrown away. With hope in their hearts, they head to the dump to find the puzzle piece of Hippo's swim trunks. While searching through a huge pile of paper trash, they find many things, but not the puzzle piece. Luckily, it finds them. As they head home in defeat, it sticks to the bottom of Dad's shoe. It falls off on the kitchen floor, where Katie finds it, and together the Kellys complete their beautiful puzzle. Graham's delightful ink and watercolor illustrations are an integral part of the story. They not only take the text to the next level with fun details and expressions, but in places deliberately and effectively replace it altogether. VERDICT A love letter to jigsaw puzzlers young and old, and a lighthearted reflection on things lost and found. The mystery of who sent the package remains unsolved. Purchase where Graham's books are popular.--Catherine Callegari

Publisher's Weekly Review

When the Kelly family receives a jigsaw puzzle in the mail, the package has no return address--just an unsigned card that reads "Good luck to you all." What follows--for jigsaw puzzle fans, anyway--is almost too painful to relate. In softly tinted watercolor and ink art, Graham (Ellie's Dragon) conjures "a beautiful jigsaw--an African sunrise," depicting a bunch of animals captured in mid-air above a swimming hole. As the white-presenting family dives in, images reveal almost immediately to readers that a piece has gone missing, planting the seed for the comedy gold that ensues. Months later, Dad sees the hole in the all-but-finished puzzle ("ONE PIECE IS MISSING!"), and the highly invested family heads to the paper recycling center to search for the missing piece, in the process sorting through fragments of memory and time: letters of love and sorrow, train tickets, and newspapers. The ending of this beguiling little gem resolves one mystery but leaves another open-ended, cleverly meditating on the way that slow-burn quandaries and jigsaw puzzle time--both of which move in seasons, not seconds--can be conducive to contentment. Ages 3--7. (July)