Julie Morstad is a sensitive illustrator and she delicately brings to life this gentle story by Camille Amos about a girl and her favourite dress made by her mother. The girl (never named) lives on a Greek island, her life is simple and unvaried – she longs for more. Finally, her life changes and her dress is packed into a big trunk as the family migrates to America. The trunk and the family are separated.

While the girl lives a new life, she and the dress are not reunited until a day many years later. Migration in our times is mostly portrayed as fraught, so it is a welcome change to have a timeless tale that tells a more accepting story. For ages 3+.

Alexa Dretzke is the assistant manager and children’s book buyer at Readings Hawthorn.