When your dad speaks five languages, your mom is a beautiful singer and your sister is an ice skater, you have a lot to live up to, which is five year-old Eddie's predicament. After overhearing her sister talk about their mother's birthday, Eddie sets out to find her mother the perfect present. Her quest leads her to travel around her neighborhood asking the baker, florist, butcher and others if they have a squishy to give her mother. When she comes upon an adorable pink creature, Eddie knows she has found the perfect gift, then uses what she gained through her search to discover her own talents and bring the unique fluffy home.

Winner of 2016 Mildred L. Batchelder Award.

Author was born in Italy.

French. Originally published in French as Le Merveilleux Dodu-Velu-Petit by Albin Michel Jeunesse in 2014. English translation by Claudia Zoe Bedrick published in the United States by Enchanted Lion Books in 2015.

Winner of the 2016 Mildred L. Batchelder Award
Here Alemagna stakes herself on the idea that the adventures children make for themselves are by far the very best!

Eddie is five and a half, and thinks she is the only one in her family who isn't really good at something. So when she hears her little sister say "birthday--Mommy--fluffy--little--squishy," it's extra important for her to find this amazing present before anyone else does. So, gregarious, charming, clever little Eddie goes all around the neighborhood to all her fabulous friends--the florist, the chic boutique owner, the antiques dealer, and even the intimidating butcher--to find one. It's a magical adventure that draws on Eddie's special gifts, ones that she herself learns to appreciate.