Betty and the Mysterious Visitor

by Anne Twist, Emily Sutton (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Anne Twist's picture book debut is everything you'd want for storytime. Betty and the Mysterious Visitor is charming and engaging and has all the hints of an instant classic. Emily Sutton's art will make you pause on each page and fall in love with the world they've created.

An exciting debut author, beloved on social media, spins a delightful homegrown mystery for young readers

Betty loves visiting Grandma and playing in her beautiful garden, Acorn Hollows. It is her most favorite place in the whole world! Together they tend to Grandma’s wildflowers and berry bushes, and even make jam to sell at the local farmers market. But when a mysterious creature starts destroying the Hollows, Betty is determined to find a way to stop it. Can she come up with a plan to save their beloved garden?
Debut author Anne Twist creates a truly touching celebration of nature and time spent together, lovingly brought to life by renowned illustrator Emily Sutton’s exuberant, joyful images.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536234862
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/05/2023
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	96,532
Product dimensions:	9.90(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Anne Twist was inspired to write Betty and the Mysterious Visitor, her first children’s book, by her own family’s love of reading and sharing stories. When her children were little, she read aloud to them constantly, especially at bedtime. After the death of her husband in 2017, Twist turned to writing poetry as a way of navigating her feelings of grief and loss. Her garden in the countryside of Cheshire, England, brought her peace as her craft grew and was the place where this story first bloomed. She hopes her debut book becomes a bedtime favorite. Follow Anne Twist on Instagram @AnneTwist and Twitter @MrsAnneTwist.

Emily Sutton graduated from Edinburgh College of Art with a degree in illustration. She is the illustrator of Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes, Many: The Diversity of Life on Earth, Grow: Secrets of Our DNA, and The First Book of the Sea, all written by Nicola Davies, as well as The Christmas Eve Tree by Delia Huddy. In addition to illustrating picture books, she paints, sculpts, and designs prints. Emily Sutton lives in England. Follow Emily Sutton on Instagram @EmilySuttonArtist.

Editorial Reviews

07/17/2023

Grandma lives in the intriguingly named village of Wobbly Bottom, where granddaughter Betty visits her each summer. Sutton (Grow: Secrets of Our DNA) paints densely worked, tapestry-like watercolors that show the vine-covered cottages opening up to Acorn Hollows— the homes’ shared garden, where Grandma grows the berries that she makes into jam and sells at the market. One morning, the garden is dug up (“a mess, a higgle and a puff”), and when Betty investigates, a moment shown in a stark b&w spread, she sees a badger pushing its striped head under the fence. What if the badger gets into the fruit cage and digs up Grandma’s treasured berries? Debut author Twist sneaks rhyme into prose lines (the badger “snuffled and sniffled and scurried along, searching for treats that were tasty and strong”) and keeps the energy high in a storybook vignette that demonstrates a child coming up with a solution. The tale’s focus on independent problem-solving is rooted in a sense of domestic security and abundance that’s supported by visual layers of pattern and color. Protagonists present as white. Ages 3–7. Author’s agent: Cait Hoyt, Creative Artists Agency. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Debut author Twist sneaks rhyme into prose lines (the badger “snuffled and sniffled and scurried along, searching for treats that were tasty and strong”) and keeps the energy high in a storybook vignette that demonstrates a child coming up with a solution. The tale’s focus on independent problem-solving is rooted in a sense of domestic security and abundance that’s supported by visual layers of pattern and color.
—Publishers Weekly

Sutton’s bright watercolors elevate the story, with cheerful scenes of the garden, village, and market. . . . A satisfying tale of a child’s resourcefulness.
—Kirkus Reviews

The sweet little mystery is both snug and suspenseful, and the charming text is filled with delightful phrasing. . . . The glorious watercolor illustrations nearly steal the show; they’re a riot of color, overflowing with detail, and young readers can spend ages taking in the minutiae on each pretty spread. The wonderful Wobbly Bottom is well worth the visit.
—Booklist

This picture book debut is an exciting and engaging storytime read that feels like an instant classic. Emily Sutton’s art paired with Anne Twist’s celebration of nature tells of a little girl determined to stop a creature from destroying her grandma’s garden.
—The Barnes & Noble Reads Blog

From the Publisher

2023-09-09
During her summer visit to Grandma, Betty cleverly scares off the badger that’s wreaking nocturnal havoc on Acorn Hollows, the neighborhood’s community garden.

Betty loves the Hollows; she swings in the tall oak tree and helps Grandma pick berries for the jam she sells at the village market. One morning, Betty spies a mess: Something’s torn up the grass. That evening, after their return from an excellent day at the market, Betty catches a glimpse of the creature from her bedroom window. She describes it to Grandma, who suspects a badger. “Once they find a place to dig for food, they come back again and again.” Indeed, the nightly damage continues. As Betty hatches a plan to frighten off the badger, Twist’s occasional rhymes give way to several rhymed lines that describe Betty’s preparations. She transforms her gathered supplies—sticks, string, old clothes, and objects that whirl, twinkle, and peal—into a scarecrow. That night, Betty glimpses her noisy creation frightening the badger away, “back to its den and its safe little place.” Next morning, Grandma welcomes the news as worthy of celebrating with hot chocolate in the garden. New flowers will grow—and meanwhile, it’s time to make more jam. Sutton’s bright watercolors elevate the story with cheerful scenes of the garden, village, and market. Betty and Grandma are light-skinned; their community is diverse.

A satisfying tale of a child’s resourcefulness. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews