Iris Grace

Iris Grace is five years old and severely autistic. For the first few years of her life she barely communicated at all - she didn't look up when her mother walked into a room, she didn't smile or speak. Her mother Arabella despaired - Iris seemed to be trapped in her own world, unreachable.

Then one day the family decided to get a cat, Thula. Thula and Iris had an immediate affinity. Iris seemed to open up and communicate with Thula in a way that she didn't do with anyone else in her life. Arabella watched, amazed, as Iris gently told the cat it was bedtime or led Tula out into the garden to enjoy the sunshine. And so began a gradual unlocking. The little girl who seemed to be lost in her own world slowly blossomed. Iris grew in confidence and began to explore the world around her. This led to her discovering painting - and an extraordinary talent emerged.

Iris loses herself in her paintings. With Thula by her side, she'll sit and paint for ten hour stints, and her creations are incredible. But this book isn't the story of a genius or child prodigy (although Iris is almost certainly both of those things), this is the story of how a remarkable bond between a cat and a child saved a family.

Beautifully written, readers will be spellbound by the story of Iris Grace and her devoted pet cat Thula.