Award-winning illustrator Charlotte Parent has released her first book as both author and illustrator, blending her signature artistic style of gentle colours and playful patterns with a delightful story about facing change and fear of the unknown. 

Little Muriel, the shrew, leaves her house in search of snails, just as she does every morning. But one day she encounters something new and unfamiliar: a mysterious black smudge hiding beneath a plant leaf. Suddenly, this mystery appears everywhere Muriel looks – in the forest, the sky, even in her cooking pot and in her own bed. 

Her safe, predictable world is shaken, and after trying to ignore the mystery and sweep it out the door, Muriel finally decides she’s had enough. She marches up to the mystery’s burrow to confront it, only to learn that what’s mysterious isn’t always scary, and that facing her fears can lead to some unlikely friendships.mRb