posted on 10 May 2021

The Small Things by Lisa Thompson

Lisa Thompson is adept at telling a well- paced story that weaves in plenty of sensitive social commentary and we have already been impressed with Owen and the Soldier and House of Clouds. This time we meet Anna who is struggling to accept that her home life is rather different to those of her three close friends. Living on a tight income is never easy, but her friends all seem to be doing interesting out-of-school activities whilst the most exciting thing she can look forward to is going supermarket shopping with her mother to look for bargains!

Everything shifts when Anna is asked to befriend the new girl Ellie, who can’t attend school in person because she is very unwell. Instead, she experiences life at school via a bespoke robot who is quickly christened  ‘Ellie-bot’. Everyone in the class is fascinated by the novelty of this unusual new pupil but Anna can’t understand why she has been chosen to be her special friend, because her life and personality is so dull. To make herself seem more likeable, Anna soon invents a busy fantasy home life where she excels at ice skating, eats in restaurants and goes to the cinema. Ellie responds to all this with much interest and enthusiasm which just encourages her to tell more and more tall stories. As you might guess, this starts to become problematic once other children become aware that she is making things up.

I like the way in which Anna is presented as an ordinary young girl who desperately wants to fit in with her peers, but who doesn’t really recognise her own special qualities. There is much room for discussion here about the pros and cons of having a frantically busy life and the benefits of learning to appreciate small things.

The big question is, will the real Ellie like Anna and will she be able to understand why she misled her for so long? What is the measure of a solid friendship after all?

The author was apparently inspired to write this story after a school visit where her audience included an AV1 robot. Further research led her to discover ‘No Isolation’, a company that specialises in making sure that house bound children can participate in classrooms through using these  – inclusive practice at its very best.  I can see how this story could lead to some valuable reflection about how children with a range of needs could be better catered for in schools. And perhaps provide some inspiration for creative writing about how it might feel to experience education in this way. This is particularly pertinent since many will have been learning online during recent lockdowns and have had to adapt to socialising with peers via Zoom calls etc. 

I strongly recommend this gentle story with a happy ending that will appeal to many children who have anxieties about friendship and fitting in. It is due to be published on 3rd June but you can pre-order copies from Barrington Stoke Publishers https://www.barringtonstoke.co.uk/ 

Karen Argent

May 2021

You can also watch this short film: https://www.barringtonstoke.co.uk/introducing-the-small-things/