Jigsaw: Mystery in the Mail

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 Mom when a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle mysteriously arrives in the mail. “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. Mom is sure that it must have accidentally gone out with the trash, so the Kellys pile into the car to comb through the local dump (“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?

About the Author :
Bob Graham is the author-illustrator of many extraordinary and critically acclaimed books for children, including “Let’s Get a Pup!” Said Kate; How to Heal a Broken Wing; April and Esme, Tooth Fairies; The Underhills; Max; Maxine; and Ellie’s Dragon. Bob Graham lives in Australia.

Review :
Sandwiched between before-and-after endpaper views of a puzzle scene of anthropomorphic African animals joyfully leaping into a pond, Graham offers an episode as rich and intimate in feeling as it is spare both in words and visual style.
—Kirkus (starred review)

Comedy gold. . . The ending of this beguiling little gem resolves one mystery but leaves another open-ended, cleverly meditating on the way that slow-burn quandaries and jigsaw puzzle time—both of which move in seasons, not seconds—can be conducive to contentment.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Graham’s delightful ink and watercolor illustrations are an integral part of the story. They not only take the text to the next level with fun details and expressions, but in places deliberately and effectively replace it altogether. . . A love letter to jigsaw puzzlers young and old, and a lighthearted reflection on things lost and found.
—School Library Journal

Graham, a master of spinning affectionate stories from the details of ordinary family life (see most recently Ellie’s Dragon, rev. 11/20), here tackles the ubiquitous mystery of the missing jigsaw-puzzle piece. . . . [Graham's] squiggly, interrupted pen line can render even a pile of wastepaper dynamic, and the cadence of his text makes the ordinary grand. . . Obviously inspired by our stay-at-home lives over the past couple of years, this timely tale is a celebration of wishful thinking.
—The Horn Book