A charming sock monkey reunites a fractured family in this simply remarkable novel in the tradition of The Velveteen Rabbit and The Penderwicks.
Meet Throckmorton S. Monkey. Heâs everything a sock monkey is supposed to be: Loving. Loyal. A very good listener. And heâs never, everânot even once!âstopped smiling. Yet Throckmorton has been long forgotten by his keeper Annaliese Easterling, and he seems doomed to live out his days lost and lonely among other abandoned stuffed animals.
But then one day Great Grand Mama Easterling sends engraved invitations to forty-nine sock monkeys to attend her ninetieth birthday along with their human keepers. Throckmorton is thrilled! The arrival of his invitation brings him back together with Annaliese. And he vows to do something so remarkable, so amazing, she will never want to be separated from him again.
Indeed, over just a few days, Throckmorton will survive being buried in a blizzard. Heâll be spared from a vicious attacker. But best of all, heâll find a way to reunite Annaliese with the one person she most longs to know. Not bad for a stuffed toyâif youâre to believe thatâs all Throckmorton S. Monkey really isâŚ
âThis unusual novel is old-fashioned in the best sense of the word, conveying universal truths and values through the use of sentient toysâ (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).