This is a marvelous addition to my large collection of stories and books about dolls and toys coming to life. Yes, it is a sad story concerning coping with death and issues of teenage friendship but the resolution leads to profound insights. It is also has very clever literary references and typical sly British humor.

Emily's sister Holly has died. Her family is grieving, her best friend has distanced herself. Then she meets Smiffy and Hugo, toys who are alive and can walk and talk, who tell her that her sister and her toy bear are still alive in Deep Smockeroon, the land of the toys. But a crack has appeared between Smockeroon and the Hard World of humans, causing pain, misery and cruelty to leak into Smockeroon, and mad childish insanity to leak into the Hard World. Can Emily find the Stuvey, defeat the Black Toad and close the door between the worlds? Does she want to?

It's a book about grief and death. If you don't want to think of teddy bears being cremated with their owners, this may not be the book for you. But it ends on a brave, positive note, that there is a world of the imagination, and those we love live there forever, in no more pain. ( )

Emily is devastated. Her sister, Holly, has died. As she struggles with this loss, as well as with problems with her best friend and with a new school, she grows close to Ruth, an older neighbor whose son has died. They relate stories about their loved ones, as well as about the stuffed animals they had shared with them. As they share the stories that they had made up about the stuffed animals, Emily starts dreaming about the stuffed animal world. She also starts to see signs of the toy world encroaching on the real world!

This is a wonderfully creative and funny story. It deals effectively with death and loss in a magical way, explaining that is all right to talk about the deceased and to remember them. Beautifully and playfully written, this is a great story for young and old!

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ( )