By Jessixa Bagley
Neal Porter Books / Holiday House, 2021
32 pages
9780823446506
Ages 3-7
Named after her mother’s favorite flower, warthog Daisy gets teased about her name at school. “’You don’t look like a daisy,’ said Rose. ‘More like a thistle,’ said Violet.” Daisy hangs her head a lot, which is how she discovers treasures that others might call junk. In fact, they do call it junk, and Daisy faces more teasing. Daisy keeps the things she finds at her secret fort, and is intrigued when she starts to find special items waiting for her there—a crystal candy dish, a broken pocket watch that she holds to her ear, imagining the “soft silvery sounds” of ticking hands. Where are they coming from, and why? When Daisy comes upon Fern, a shy skunk, leaving another special item for her, she recognizes a kindred spirit who also sees beauty that others overlook. The emotional honesty of Daisy’s quiet loneliness and the charm of her rendering in watercolors make for a winsome, satisfying, relatable tale of intrinsic worth and an unexpected friendship. ©2021 Cooperative Children’s Book Center