The Curse of the Jelly Babies — Karen McCombie

Neighbours Ruby and Jackson get the surprise of their lives when they discover a Thing living at the bottom of their gardens. And when Thing places a curse on the inhabitants of the new house that's been built over his old home, Ruby and Jackson find themselves up to their eyeballs in jellybabies, magic and BIG trouble.
I never expected to be friends with a Thing. Well, you don't, do you? You usually think of friends being either boys or girls, or maybe even cute yappy dogs. Well, Thing certainly doesn't fit into any of those categories. Thing is just a... a... Actually, I'm not sure quite how to describe it.

"A sort of troll crossed with a fairy crossed with a squirrel?" Jackson suggested, after we first discovered Thing.

"I is not a squirrel," Thing purred grumpily, twitching its squirrelly ears. "And not a fairy or a trolly. Whatever they is."

By the way, I never expected to be friends with Jackson Miller either. I guess I've got a bit of explaining to do, about Jackson and about Thing. (Oh, and about curses and jellybabies too, And the magic. I mustn't forget the magic!)

Contains charming black and white line illustrations by Alex T. Smith