A New Room for William

William has moved house; he and mum are decorating his new room, which gradually feels more like home to him. He begins to make friends with the boy next door and to notice the good things about his new home. The disruption he is feeling is well-depicted in Thompson's watercolour and collage illustrations, along with the tenderness between William and his mum. The book ends by dropping a bombshell: we have had glimpses throughout of a photo of a happy family, but the final page has William asking Mum 'Will Dad let me choose the paper for my room at his new house? There is no discussion of this beyond his mother's reassuring answer. I felt this sudden ending had the potential to disturb, or at least confuse, a young child not in William's position - and there are no clues either earlier in the book or on the cover to tell the sharing adult that it might be useful for a child who is. The text is clumsy in places but the page-filling illustrations complement it well, giving many strong features to the whole, and much to discuss about the feelings of a child in a new family situation once one knows the content.