Small Things Mended

Small Things Mended

Casey W. Robinson, Nancy Whitesides (Illustrator)
$18.99
Publication Date: March 19th, 2024
Publisher:
Rocky Pond Books
ISBN:
9780593529812
Pages:
40
The MIT Press Bookstore
1 on hand, as of Apr 26 10:26am
(JR:PB)
On Our Shelves Now

With Small Things Mended, Casey Robinson transcends kids’ expectations of adults and shows just how infectious and healing kindness can be. The illustrations will bring big smiles and a jaunty pep to your step all day long.

Gibran Graham, The Briar Patch, Bangor, ME
March/April 2024 Kids' Indie Next List

Description

The healing power of community is tenderly expressed in this picture book for fans of A Sick Day for Amos McGhee and Last Stop on Market Street.

Kindly Cecil has a broken heart, but when the kids in his neighborhood start asking him to fix their valuables—a music box, a watch, a stuffed elephant—he gradually finds that he knows just how to do this mending. And in return, his circle of new friends offers the mending that his own heart needs.

This gentle, kindhearted story brings the generations of a community together to sustain and enrich one another, and it beautifully showcases the value of fixing things―and loving their history―rather than quickly discarding them.

About the Author

Casey W. Robinson grew up in Maine and used to keep a shoe box of favorite words and phrases under her bed. She now lives with her family just west of Boston, in a house overflowing with books. When she’s not writing, Casey is managing book events for her local independent bookstore. Her debut picture book, Iver & Ellsworth, was a Crystal Kite Award Finalist.

Nancy Whitesides is an author and self-taught illustrator born and raised in the Philippines and now based in California. Her picture book debut, Grief Is an Elephant by Tamara Ellis Smith, will be published in 2023. When Nancy isn’t creating, she loves taking bike rides (and balancing too many groceries on the handlebars).

Praise for Small Things Mended

"Whitesides’ soft, cozy illustrations capture Cecil’s detailed restoration work but also hint at a life shared with a beloved spouse, now gone. Robinson’s gentle prose guides readers along Cecil’s healing journey. This tender story will resonate with young readers processing grief of their own. A sweet story about the fixes made possible by generosity and community." —Publishers Weekly

"A heartwarming story, in which Robinson’s straightforward narration and Whitesides’s softly tinted, painting-like spreads underscore the role of community in healing." —Publishers Weekly