'Tim and Charlotte' tells the story of a little girl, lost at sea, who is washed up on the beach and found by two brothers who take her home to be cared for by their mother. She is, essentially, adopted by the family, until one day her Grandmother comes to reclaim her. Charlotte, however, pines for her seaside home with Tim, and, in the end, finds a home in both places, and has two families for good. Edward Ardizzone's illustrations are lovely, gentle, and soft, and he has the amazing skill of telling a story that could be a novel or a film, in the form of a picture book for children. I had never heard of him until my Dad (also a compulsive bookshop wanderer!) picked out a copy of this for our children - they loved it and asked for it to be read to them often. It also is another one of those books that helpfully bridges the gap for newly independent readers between picture books and chapter books, as the story is longer, but peppered with illustrations which help the reader along.