The story: Molly lives with her Mama in a house that is next door to the horrible Grimshaws. Molly’s Mama, who knows all about herbs and potions, decides to plant a quick-growing tree to distract the Grimshaws from the noise of their rooster. But, Molly’s Mama accidentally turns herself into the tree, and it is up to Molly to work out a way to free her Mama. Instead of trusting her best friend Ellen with her terrible secret, Molly turns to Pim, an unusual, one-of-a-kind sort of boy. Molly needs a combination of courage, tears, friendship and potions to make everything turn out for the best.
The highlights: I wish I could have read this book as a kid. I think I would have read it hundreds of times. It is whimsical and original with beautiful language. I love the themes of friendship – so important for this age group of eight to eleven year-olds. Throughout the book, Molly turns to and from her best friend, Ellen, misjudging their friendship. She also opens herself up to friendship with Pim. This book is about mothers and daughters, with Molly turning away from her Mama’s potion and herb knowledge because it is not what other mothers do but coming back to it as a strength and a way to heal others. There’s a lovely section in the back of the book with information and sketches from Martine about herbs and plants such as chamomile and pomegranates and rosemary. This is a book I will be buying for birthday presents.
Miss 8 and I went to the book launch of Molly and Pim and the millions of stars at The Little Bookroom in Carlton. Sally Rippin introduced Martine Murray. Martine talked about her idea for Molly’s Mama turning herself into a tree – she thought of mothers as nurturing, providing food and comfort for their children, not so different from a tree providing shade and food. Such a beautiful image!