Esmeralda is the strongest girl in the world. But she wants to be an acrobat or a tightrope walker, not a circus strong-woman. She might be able to lift her parents high in the air but she'd prefer to be able to play with the-children-next-door who are scared of her size and strength. They shout at her and run away, not realising that she is really gentle and kind-hearted. Then one day, she rescues their baby sister and in the process loses her strength. Only the friendship of the-children-next-door can make her better. Described in the Observer as 'a book for children with nerve as well as imagination...a lovely, moving book about the sweetness of friendship and about bad times becoming good.