I loved this book exploring compassion and loss. Full of lovely illustrations and whimsical creatures, it's a provides a gentle way of introducing the topics of death and grief with children. It would definitely be a useful addition to a school library, or a helpful tool for teachers or parents wanting to talk with a child about bereavement. It's quirky, unusual, and poignantly beautiful.

A girl reaches out to a large, lonely monster with a simple act of kindness—a flower. As their bond strengthens, they create memories filled with joy. The girl introduces the monster to other creatures in the neighbourhood. However, as time passes, the monster grows old and eventually has to leave. The community, created by the girl, provides comfort during this loss.

In The Thing at 52, friendship, community, loneliness, and coping with loss are woven together, showing how kindness and acceptance can bridge differences, build connections, and provide comfort during times of change.

A beautiful story about a peculiar friendship. It was quite a bittersweet read. I really liked the artwork.

A kind and cozy tale of friendship and loss with beautiful and cute illustrations and a soothing color palette with a lot of tiny details to rest your eyes on.

thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing the ARC.

I received this ARC through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Thing at 52 is such a lovely read. I was impressed that the mother went into the house with her, as going into a strangers house alone is wrong. The kindness this story displayed is wonderful.

When a young girl notices a Thing lives on her street, her interests are piqued. Alongside her mother, she visits the creature and learns of its unique lifestyle and isolation. Noting its need for friendship, she takes it upon herself to rally a community for the Thing, but as the evening winds down a heart-breaking reality disrupts her world. When she is left to experience the same loneliness the Thing had dealt with, she is faced with a choice to shield herself from loss or share in the comfort and knowledge of others.

Featuring Richard Johnson’s stunning illustrations, The Thing at 52 is a tale of loneliness, acceptance, loss, and community. While Ross Montgomery’s plot is imaginative and magical for any empathetic child, it is especially poignant for those who have befriended elders in their community and anyone who has lost of a friend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Thing at 52 by Ross Montgomery & Richard Johnson is a beautiful, charming story of friendship, loss and learning to say good-bye.
There’s a strange Thing living in the neighbourhood. Who is it? What is it? Why is it so alone? When a little girl decides to reach out in kindness (with the help of her mother), everything begins to change. The warmth of community and sharing of adventures radiates from the page through the gorgeous, soft illustrations. Eventually, when the Thing has to leave, memories and sadness fill the space where it once was. The girl must learn that all Things have to go sometimes. As life moves on, others will come along but they’ll never replace the ones we’ve lost. There is room for all Things.
The Thing at 52 is a lovely way to explore inter-generational friendships, being a neighbour and how to cope with loss. With scope for so much discussion, young children will love chatting about the Thing while making connections to their own experiences and developing empathy for those who have felt lonely or lost someone close to them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the eARC! This is a cute story about a girl who becomes friends with "The Thing"- that looks like a mythical creature- that lives by her house. They have a party and become the best of friends. "The Thing"; goes through the circle of life, and a new family moves in.

This was much sadder than I had expected going in??
I loved how it dealt with loss in such a delicate way, yet still packed a punch - a literal punch in my guts. Lovely.

This is a stunningly illustrated picture book about loneliness, kindness and loss.

The little girl in the story notices ‘A Thing’ in one of the houses in her neighbourhood. She befriends the Thing to help him overcome his loneliness. We learn that there are lots of other Things in the world and the girl throws them a lovely party.

At the end of the story the Thing must leave and a new family move onto his house. The girl remembers the happy memories every time she passes and learns that eventually the good times and happiness shared start to lessen the weight of her grief and loss.

Initially I spent a short while pondering if the Thing is an imaginary friend, but then I realised it’s not important and the ambiguity allows the Thing to represent many aspects of a child’s life that may not be typically represented in a book or even thought of as difficult to let go of and that makes this a truly special book.

an interesting book to feel what loneliness and solitude are, feel happy when playing together, then sad when Thing gone, Including being sad when cleaning up "Thing" items after he/she is gone. By the way, what is this "thing"?

As someone whose job was reading picture books, it is something that I haven't shaken and now and again they are exciting and fun to read. It also shows people that picture books do teach children life skills. The Thing at 52 by Ross Montgomery introduces us to a little girl who is constantly walking past the house at Number 52 and notices a lonely monster. She decides to befriend the monster and soon the lonely monster is no longer by himself as he makes a good group of friends including a group of other monsters. Books like this show it only takes one person to help someone be less lonely and often that one person can help others make the step they need as they might have been nervous as well and hanging back. The other thing that I loved about this book was that Richard Johnson's illustrations are some of the most beautiful I have seen in a long time in a picture book. The Thing at 52 by Ross Montgomery and Richard Johnson is suitable for children aged 4-10 years old.

This is a book about loneliness and loss. The Thing is a cute furry animal that becomes friends with a little girl and they go on adventures. The girl learns to let go of things and embrace new things. #thethingat52

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read an ARC of The Thing at 52 by Ross Montgomery.

The story is short and (bitter)sweet. It’s a perfect way to talk to children about many subjects - both easy and difficult.

The Thing at 52 is about how compassion can lead to new friends, friends that will change your life forever. About bravery, loss and the celebration of memories and experiences gained.

Visually stunning and full of emotional punches. This majestic blend of illustrations from Richard Johnson and the story from Ross Montgomery gives the reader an explosion of emotions, just like any true friendship.

It’s exquisite.

This was so beautiful and way more sad than I expected it to be!
The story and drawing style gave me a really cozy and dreamy vibe. I would definitely read more (picture) books with that kind of style and vibe.
You should definitely pick his up if you are looking for a picture book about friendship and grief.

What a great story and illustrations. I was struck by the girl and the Thing's friendship, and I wasn't expecting the climax to be so moving 😭

'The Thing at 52' by Ross Montgomery is a beautiful book. The illustrations are warm and lively. The story, however, was lacking. I understand what it was trying to do (child-friendly loss and friendship) but the execution fell flat. It just lacked the heart it needs.

Major indicator that this is a great story: The moment it ended my kiddos (5 & 7) immediately asked if we could read it again. This is a beautiful story about kindness, community, and friendship. We enjoyed watching their friendship blossom and grow. The illustrations were so well done. The story was well written. We just really liked this book.

Thank you so much to Quarto Publishing/ Frances Lincoln and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

A little girl sees a Thing all alone and she and her mother decide to befriend him, becoming incredibly close and learning so much. She didn’t want him to be lonely anymore and the two end up the best adventures together.

This was cute, I liked it, it was illustrated really beautifully and told a sweet story of kindness and friendship. I liked that she wanted him to not feel alone anymore and even found him more friends.

It was sad what happened but also it felt very brief and didn’t really explain or deal with it very much. He goes away and she is left with the loss of him and how she learn to over come that loss. It really felt like it was rushed at the end and didn’t stop to explain how she actually over came it much. Unfortunately it felt more like, he’s gone, that’s sad, I miss him and now we have new neighbours. Sadly that was how it felt, this beautiful story but then a big element rushed into a tiny space, it did let me down at the end.

I think children would have fun trying to figure out which animals have been used to inspire the image of The Thing, he was funny looking and very unique, you could clearly see multiple animals within his design and I think young children would find themselves enjoying looking at him.

This was a cute book on friendship, on kindness and on lonliness. It was written very sweetly and was nice to read. It came with really sweet illustrations and think is a book that younger children would enjoy.