The award-winning novelist Zadie Smith has teamed up with her husband, the poet and novelist Nick Laird, in this quirky and charming picture book about Maud, a judo-loving guinea pig. And the illustrations by Magenta Fox are wonderful!

Maud arrives one day as a surprise birthday present for Kit. But she doesn't get a great welcome. 

Kit has to go to school so Maud is left behind with the other pets, who are very suspicious. Maud doesn't look anything like anyone they've ever met before. They think she's weird.

Maud wants to find a way to be accepted by the other pets, but it all goes wrong and she finds herself out of the house, lost in the neighbourhood. But here she makes a new friend who shows her how nice it is to be different, special, and even a little bit weird. 

It's a lovely story though, for me, the illustrations are the star here. Maud is just wonderful and the style is reminiscent of Raymond Briggs and Janet Ahlberg. There's so much to enjoy for children, and adults.