"Tess," I said to her when she was six, "a box is for keeping things in."
"I know, James," Tess told me, with one of her scornful, I-am-not-an-idiot looks. "But I like to think about what I might put in them."
"I suppose you'll use them for whateverstupid thing you decide to collect next," I said and I gave her look for look.
I wish I'd never said that. I saw her eyes suddenly brighten. I thought I'd better warn Mum.
"She's thinking about what to collect next," I said.
Mum groaned. "Let's hope it's small," she said. "Do you think she might choose buttons or bottle-tops this time?" But buttons didn't appeal to Tess, nor did bottle-tops.
Stones did.
Publisher: Barrington Stoke
Price: $14.95
Age group: 8-13 years
Want to win this book? Send us all six of this week's Kids into Books coupons from the print edition of the New Zealand Herald and you'll go into the draw.
