Jigsaw: A Puzzle in the Post Hardback

Serendipity and positive thinking come into play as a family searches for a missing puzzle piece in Bob Graham’s enchanting story with a sweet surprise ending. “Oh, let’s do it!” say Kitty and Katy and Mum when a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle mysteriously arrives in the post. “I have time on my hands,” agrees Dad. Starting in winter with the edges, by autumn they’re almost done, only to discover that one piece is missing.

Mum is sure that it must have accidentally gone out with the rubbish, so the Kellys pile into the car to comb through the local tip (“shouldn’t take long”).

There they uncover forgotten letters, train tickets, discarded newspapers, and old photos yellow with age, but finding the missing piece is starting to seem like wishful thinking. “Let’s wish, then,” says Katy. As in all of Bob Graham’s work, the beauty here is in the details, with visual perspectives that offer a bird’s-eye view or take us underfoot, wordless sequences letting us in on a secret.

Is it sheer luck – or perhaps the power of hope – that creates an ending to the story?