Highly recommended. Tish is a whimsical and poignant lower middle grade read about the power of the imagination to create imaginary friends. Edwina’s signature text is magical, thought-provoking and leaves an impression on each page…It is one of those books that will stay in the reader’s heart forever, for we all, young and old, once had an imaginary friend as powerful as Tish in our lives. A highly recommended text for readers aged 7 – 12.” – CBCA Reading Time

“Highly recommended. A delightful, bitter-sweet story about the qualities of friendship, of searching, finding, saying goodbye and hello and learning to know oneself. Stories like Tish are important for children as they talk of the universal need to be loved, the process of trying to adapt, trying to please and the development of confidence in what is important to oneself in a friend. Tish represents unrequited friendship, gentleness, hurt and goodness. A beautiful tale!”– ReadPlus

“Edwina Wyatt is one of my favourite authors…Tish is a gorgeous story about imaginary friends with a bitter sweet feeling to it. That universal story of needing to be loved and have friends, and finding new friends, and saying goodbye to old friends. It’s absolutely beautiful, gentle and heart-warming and highly, highly recommended reading. Beautiful read aloud for 7 – 10 year olds.” 
– Megan Daley (Episode 7, Your Kid’s Next Read Podcast)

“You have heard of hygge, this is the book version and you need it in your life, library bookshelf stat! In true Edwina style, it is magical and fantastical, full of otherworldly goodness that we simply devoured every word on the page. The illustrations are truly exquisite and full of the whimsy captured by Edwina!  A very, very beautiful book. All Edwina Wyatt’s books are magnificent – Middle Grade Mavens

“A delight – profound and uplifting, sweet yet rough around the edges , and full of rich and playful language young readers will love.”
– Multi-award winning author of The Grandest Bookshop in The World, Amelia Mellor

2022-07-13
An imaginary friend passes from one child to another as each one outgrows him.

Tish starts life as a spark: an idea dreamed up by Charles Dimple as he writes a list labeled “The Perfect Friend.” When Tish, a brown-furred elephantlike creature with wings and a long tail, accompanies Charles to school, he sees other kids with Perfect friends. But after a while, the other Perfects start disappearing, and one day Charles Dimple cannot see Tish. Tish leaves and is dreamed up again by Annabeth Arch, who gives him a makeover: purple polka dots, pockets, and a new name. But when Annabeth makes up with her best friend, Tish needs to find a new Someone—again. Fortunately, 3-year-old Isabella Applebee—Izzy for short—is right next door, longing for a Perfect friend. Inevitably, Izzy grows older, too, but Tish finds a novel solution, ensuring he won’t be alone or the last of his kind. Imaginary friends are a staple of childhood, and Wyatt isn’t alone in centering one in a story—as Lee Bacon does in Imaginary (2021), illustrated by Katy Wu—but she does so with charm and a quaint style; the occasional use of capital letters is reminiscent of A.A. Milne, and the illustrations are black and white with effective use of spot color. Though Tish’s plight is explored with tenderness, the overall tone is lighthearted. Characters present as White.

A poignant, enchanting tale of an imaginary friend who develops an imagination of his own. (Fiction. 9-12)