Whatever Happened to my Sister? by Simona Ciraolo (Flying Eye Books)

A glorious and heart-warming book that looks at sibling relationships in a lovely way. So whatever DID happen to your sister?

Simona Ciraolo's "Hug Me" performed the near impossible. It made us love (and want to hug) a rather prickly character, a wonderful little cactus (you can see our review of "Hug Me" here).

Things are a little more straightforward in Simona's new book, but the core theme of the book - the relationship between a big sister and her little sister - is written and illustrated in such a lovely way that you'll be practically scrabbling for the tissues by the end of the story with its utterly joyous message. Friends may come and go but sisters are for life.

Little Sis actually genuinely thinks that someone's sneaked a clone in, and that big sister isn't actually her sister any more. She seems preoccupied and always busy, she keeps closing the door to her bedroom, she seems to spend a lot of time on her phone or listening to loud music and she has no time to play - especially with pretty things or dressing up clothes. She looks different, dresses different, and when the little girl asks her mum and dad they really don't seem to be much help.

It's a sad day, but thankfully little sister hasn't realised that along with big sis changing, she's changed too!

You know that scene at the end of Toy Story 3, where Andy's handing over his toys to Molly - but can't resist just one more mammoth play session (I think I've seen this scene many times, always through snot-runnels and huge teary eyes, I just can't watch it without descending into a blubbing mess). The very last few moments in this book are as glorious as that, so if you don't mind a bit of a cry, you're going to love this one.

Charlotte's favourite bit: Little sister's constant cat companion, who steals the show in nearly every scene (particularly when dressed up in a very pretty gown!)

Daddy's favourite bit: As the older sibling of three kids this book made me wonder if my youngest brother ever felt a bit like the little girl in this story (there's 10 years between us so just as he was playing with Matchbox cars and Lego, I was probably spending far too much time mooning over girls!) A superb and sweet book with a glorious message at its big beating heart.

"Whatever Happened to my Sister?"

Written and Illustrated by Simona Ciraolo

Published by Flying Eye Books

Release Date: 6th August 2015

(Kindly sent to us for review by Flying Eye Books)