The book is a real mix of the magical realism element and real, contemporary issues, and also touches on immigration and the meaning of home. By providing a contextual explanation rather than just a standard definition, we can better help children understand the stories we are sharing with them and widen their vocabulary.

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At the heart of this is a charming friendship between two immigrant children, perhaps my favourite aspect of the book. Living in a dilapidated flat in a forgotten part of the city and feeling like an outsider at school, Leelu wishes she could fly the thousands of miles back home to where her dad has had to stay behind. Alongside reading, children will begin to explain their impressions of characters based on their actions and the ways the author has used language to portray certain plot and character developments.

The prose, imagery and writing style is completely gorgeous, and the ending was perfect (I was in tears). Children begin by forming plot predictions based on the front cover before looking at specific vocabulary in context. We also said it should pay him compensation for the distress and inconvenience he’d experienced because of its refusal to help with his repatriation. When the hard realities underlying the family's plight needed to be explained it was done gently but clearly.

There's a sprinkle of magic, of course, but at it's heart this is a wonderful immigrant story about a girl trying to find her home. The context and background of Polly's stories is usually pretty tough but they are so magical and gentle that even this sensitive soul can enjoy them. The touch of magical realism was fun but I felt a little uncomfortable about her friendship with Bo - the old man neighbour. Touching on an important and unusual theme - human rights activists outside the western world, and how such people often risk everything for standing up for what they believe in, also exploring how hard it can be to live at the margins of society, where just holding down a job, because of everything else that is going on in people's lives, is considerable achievement.Some excitement with Leelu's elder brother will keep KS3 readers interested and it makes the story relevant and accessible to a wider readership. The treating doctor thought Carl should be flown home to the UK for the operation, despite the risk that he might suffer further problems either before or during the flight itself. Leelu’s situation – of arriving in London, with her mother and brother, from another country but without her father – was based on a child I used to teach.