Children’s literature is so much richer and more multi-cultural since Pushkin Press began publishing many gems that the English-speaking world had previously missed out on.

And, now, another comes our way and the wonderful Zeze captures our hearts. The cheeky and precocious five-year-old loves words, singing and make believe and his imagination helps relieve a life of poverty and brutality in Brazil. Left to his own devices, he gets up to mischief and is punished harshly and so he tells a little tree in his garden his woes and wonder.

One day the richest man in town notices naughty Zeze and after a shaky start takes him under his wing; finally some kindness and guidance comes his way. The vibrancy of Zeze’s world leaps from the page and you fall in love with the little boy who is just trying to survive in an, at times, bleak environment.

My Sweet Orange Tree has never been out of print in Brazil since it was published in 1968 and now we have the chance to meet the irrepressible Zeze. Children aged 9 and up will be astonished at what a tough life he has.

Alexa Dretzke is the assistant manager and children’s book buyer at Readings Hawthorn.