Ross Recommends: Stuck by Oliver Jeffers

With this recent spell of brighter weather, and the skies above engraved with the effortless circles of Red Kites, shadows against the burning sun, I wanted my children's blog this month to be made of, ooze and joy, and I have found the perfect book to do that.

Stuck by Oliver Jeffers introduces us to Floyd, a confident young boy in red and white tartan who, after a day full of fun in the great outdoors, gets his kite stuck in a tree. A hiccup in the day for sure but Floyd has an idea; he throws his favourite shoe up to knock the kite down. The shoe gets stuck too. Okay, let’s not panic, Floyd has another shoe… which also gets stuck. Floyd is determined though, and will stop at nothing to get his kite back, even if that means launching the milkman, his neighbour’s house and a whale, to name a few inventive tries, at the tree. Will his courage and determination win out?

I adored this uncompromisingly chaotic story of inventiveness, resilience and strength. Floyd is faced with a problem and works to come up with a solution. He gets it wrong and faces setbacks but he doesn’t give up, which is an important lesson for all of us. More than this though, I loved that Floyd tried solutions that made sense to him. We all look at the world in a unique way and see things that others might not. That doesn’t make our attempts to tackle the problems we face any less valid and Floyd is a shining beacon of self-confidence.

Alongside this brilliant and funny story comes Jeffers’ sensational illustrations, somehow juggling messy and chaotic with clarity and shape. I couldn’t wait to turn each new page to see how he would capture Floyd’s next crazy idea in colouring pencils, watercolour and gouache. Jeffers is a multi award winning artist, collaborating as writer or illustrator, or both, on over twenty books. He is a gem to have discovered and I am excited to explore his other works, like How To Catch A Star and The Incredible Book Eating Boy.

We also have a wide range of kite and sky related books in-store to celebrate the nicer weather and, hopefully, more time outdoors under our gorgeous and expansive blue blanket.

If you would like to purchase this book please click here.