Wishyouwas
Classic-feeling storytelling with bags of charm. Fans of thrilling animal adventure and enchanting underground worlds will fall in love with Wishyouwas.
It’s 1952 in smog-shrouded London. Christmas might be fast approaching, but with her mum away and Uncle Frank busy running the post office, Penny Black is lonelier than ever.
All that changes when Penny discovers a small, fluffy, funny, springy and – most importantly – talking creature in the post office one night, trying to make off with a letter.
But Wishyouwas is no thief. He’s a Sorter, and he soon introduces Penny to a fascinating secret world hidden in the tunnels underneath the city’s streets. Self-appointed guardians of lost mail, the Sorters have dedicated their lives to rescuing letters that have gone astray and making sure they get delivered to their rightful owners.
Penny is determined to protect the Sorters, but how long will she be able to keep them safe with Stanley Scrawl, the sinister Royal Mail Rat Catcher, on the prowl? Can Penny save the Sorters and deliver a joyful Christmas?
Alexandra Page spent her early childhood being airmailed between England and Zimbabwe and making up stories to entertain her younger siblings. After studying English Literature at University College London, she worked for several years in book production and then in the City, before venturing into writing. Alexandra loves being creative, travelling to far-flung places and swimming in anything bigger than a puddle. She lives in London with her husband and daughter.
Wishyouwas is Alexandra’s first children’s book. It won the WriteMentor Children’s Novel Award in 2019 and was also shortlisted for the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition.
Penny Neville-Lee was raised on a healthy diet of Saturday cartoons and MGM musicals. Never happier than when creating, she spent her early years drawing and making, and was rarely found without a doodle somewhere in the margins. Penny studied for a Painting MA at the Royal College of Art. After several years making large oil paintings of gloomy woods in the company of Radio 4 and some studio mice, she had her small son, shifted to the kitchen table and realised there might be something in those doodles after all. Penny is inspired by small people, bright colours, a blank page and newly sharpened pencils. She lives in Manchester with her two children, husband and very adventurous cat.