I would have adored this book when I was a child! It’s got all the ingredients guaranteed to keep the reader engrossed, right to the very last page.
It’s set in 1952, in smoggy London. Penny Black (yes, as in the world’s first adhesive postage stamp) lives with her uncle above his post office. When she catches a small, furry creature appearing to steal a letter, she soon discovers there’s a whole other world beneath the streets of London, where creatures like Wishyouwas look after the lost letters.
Penny is a feisty heroine, up against the scary Stanley Scrawl, the rat catcher, who is determined to destroy Wishyouwas’s community. Details regarding letters and mail sorting and postage may be quite foreign to a twenty first century child and could need some explaining.
The author has skilfully created the world of the tiny sorters, bringing back memories of the tiny world of [b:The Borrowers|348573|The Borrowers (The Borrowers, #1)|Mary Norton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1308945559l/348573.SX50.jpg|802336].
Special mention must be made of the gorgeous black and white illustrations by Penny Neville-Lee which enrich the story enormously.
Set in the days leading up to Christmas, this is the perfect Christmas present for a reader aged 8+ or would be an excellent read-aloud story for younger children.