Over the Shop

A chipper child and her grouchy grandparent advertise their ramshackle, over-the-shop flat, for rent. Most prospective tenants scurry away from the damp and the cracks… until a couple look keen to step up to the challenge. The grandparent doesn’t like the look of them, immediately snatching away the ‘For Rent’ sign. But the child pleads and suspicions start to melt away as the pair roll up their sleeves. A wordless picture book which triumphs over prejudice, ignorance and distrust as a queer couple enter an inward-looking neighbourhood and do the work of nurturing a new, expansive and inclusive community. Leng’s style of daily spontaneous sketches, later filled out with digital colour, lend an everyday immediacy. There are splashes of humour everywhere and children will enjoy following the parallel journey of a feral, arch-pigeon-enemy, cat who ultimately joins the new family of ‘Lowell’s General Store’.