The Unfinished Angel by Sharon Creech
This lovely children's novel tells a tale of an angel who lives in an old house in a small village in Switzerland. For a long time the angel has been watching theneighbours, an old lady Signora Divino and her grandson Vinny, but not really doing that much. The angel feels like it doesn't know what it should be doing or how to do angel-like things. While it is supposed to understand all languages, it isn't really that good at them, and the words it uses aren't always right. It hasn't seen any other angels and isn't sure where to find them and what the extent of territory it is responsible for. The angel likes animals and when feeling upset flishes (yet that is what it calls it) up to see the goats, which always make it feel better.
But then the American man Mr. Pomodoro and the girl Zola come to live in the house and things start to happen. To start, Zola can see the angel and knows it is an angel and expects it to do angel things. Like when she finds the homeless children in the barn before the angel notices and want the angel to fix things. Like when Vinny throws garbage and Zola wants the angel to fix things. But though the angel helps when it can, everyone discovers that sometimes it is the people that do most of the fixing.
I love the use of onomatopoeia in the words used by the angel. A good example is Mr Pomodoro tappling at the keys for his dimputer. The book plays with language in both the words the angel uses and Zola's playful utterings. The whole book feels playful and fun, and gives the reader a good feeling inside.
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