Sam is happy and contented, loved and liked by family and school friends: ‘The sound of Sam’s life was like the best piece of music you have ever heard.’ And then one day the music stopped. A little girl on the playground started throwing mud, first little pieces and then big ones, and it is soon apparent that these are mud words, not actual mud, but as the days go on, Sam begins to feel like he is covered in mud when all the children begin to join in. He is ‘clogged up with it’ and can’t hear or see of learn any more. One day when he gets home, he climbs into his wardrobe and feels he wants to ‘stay there forever’. He gets a little comfort when his friend the family cat joins him, but it is only when mum finds him there that she starts to ‘un-muddle’ things, and his feelings of being muddy all over drop away. Dad writes to the school and soon the teacher is being helpful, but it is when Sam sees other children being bullied and having mud words thrown at them that he intervenes and stops the mud from being slung. That night Sam knows that the music is back. The word play is interesting and an excellent way of explaining the feelings engendered by bullying. Lyrically written with super illustrations, this is the kind of comforting book that will have a positive effect on a sensitive child who is finding life difficult. Excellent! Available from Amazon, from book shops, and from the publisher: www.jkp.com.