Jasper just loves shiny things, and not only does he love them, but he also has read a lot about metals and why they shine and what they do. But his obsession means that he often puts himself in danger by digging around dustbins and running into the road after something that shines. His family are disturbed by this tendency and the fact that the things are often dirty and smelly, and when they try to explain the problem to him, he goes into meltdown and trashes the house. Jasper is one unhappy little boy. What to do? His parents think of him as a magpie, and in the end it is they and Jasper's two grans who find a solution. For his birthday he is given lots of shiny things that they have collected for him, and together they paint a giant picture of a magpie and glue lots of shiny things all over it. Jasper is ecstatic, and his family learn that obsessions can be turned to good use and that they are not necessarily 'wrong'. In rhyming couplets, we learn also something about Jasper's unique brain and that while he isn't able to understand other peoples thinking processes, we so called 'normal' sorts aren't tuned into his uniqueness either. This is a really lovely book with excellent illustrations and true perception of why people on the autistic spectrum need special help with their tendency to obsess. Available from Amazon, from book shops and from the publisher: www.jkp.com.