The Thing at 52 - Ross Montgomery - ★★★

AUTHOR: Ross Montgomery

ILLUSTRATOR: Richard Johnson

GENRE: Children's Picture Book.

RATING: 3 stars.

In a Nutshell: A beautiful story but too abstract. Will work in niche situations.

Written from the first person point of view of a little girl, the narrator tells us of a “Thing” who lives on her street in house no. 52. He seems lonely, so she takes permission from her mother to befriend him. The Thing and the girl quickly bond, and spend a lot of time together doing relaxing activities. But as the Thing reminds his little friend, all Things have to go some time. And when the sad day comes, the little girl obviously grieves the loss of her friend, but knows that it is but the way things are and life moves on.

As an adult, I can see how the story can be correlated to many themes such as the loss of a loved one or grief over someone’s moving. However, the logical side of me (which, ideally, shouldn’t have been active while reading something so surreal) has many questions. I don’t do very well with metaphorical reads, and this book is proof of my ineptitude to gauge what it is actually attempting.

In terms of physical characteristics, the Thing appears to be a weird amalgamation of several creatures, and seems closely related to a Yeti. But in terms of the metaphorical meaning, it could have been an old relative or a kindly but lonely neighbour or just a random lonely stranger. Honestly though, every meaning I applied went for a toss when I saw one page had Mom making Thing have a bath in a clawfoot bathtub while the girl sits next to them, writing party invites. It was a bit creepy!

But this does not tie up all the segments of the story. Why was the Thing loving alone despite there being so many other Things in the vicinity? Then again, who were all the other Things? Why did each of them appear so different from each other? Also, why did the girl not have any human friends? Why did Thing not have a proper name? (Actually, I just hated the use of the word “Thing” to depict a living creature. It felt somewhat demeaning.)

One thing I truly loved about the book was how the girl sought permission from her mother before befriending the Thing. The Thing could have any creepy old guy, so it was nice of the book to emphasise to its little readers how parents need to be kept in the loop before they go approaching random lonely strangers with offers of friendship. The mom plays an active albeit silent role in the story.

I also like the themes of loneliness, friendship, loss and moving on. But most of these were too abstract. Moreover, the ending feels quite rushed as the girl’s coping process after Thing goes away isn’t described at all.

The illustrations are the star of the book, with them having a Pixar-movie kind of appearance.

If you are looking for something obvious and clear on the page, this book won’t work that well. But I guess every book has the right reader, and I hope this one will find its target set too, preferably someone who is more comfortable with figurative content. The book is aimed at readers aged 4-7 years, but I don’t think this book will work for independent reading.

My thanks to Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Thing at 52”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.