Quite unusually for these very early readers from Collins, this one is in narrative poetry – and rather than be thumped into the shape of four-line stanzas or anything else, this has come out as a freer thing, much like the kind of spoken word verse of the traditional open night. It has some of the cadence of rap, which you might not see fitting the gentle story of a lonely girl in a new part of town in her mother's new flat, who thinks she has adopted a local neighbourhood moggie. But on the whole it works – the story is still there, and you never get the sense the author is trying too hard with the rhymes when also delivering the moral of the story about overcoming the strange and new. We're always with Bibi, and her feelings of alone-ness, and enjoy her quandary with the cat – and, to repeat, that's all in the build-up to the lesson about giving up on immediately finding new friends and everything else a new home might lead to in us when young. A strong four stars.

An inclusive, diverse and tender story in verse about Bibi, discovering her new life in a new place, with the help of Rumi.
We did not expect the twist (it resonated with me, and opened up the opportunity to tell my child of something similar happening to me and my family as a teen), the vocabulary is great, and the style is wonderful.