Mesmerizing. Strange. Glorious.
I have to thank fellow bookseller Nicole for introducing me to this stunning book. The technical skill left me astonished. I wanted a bench, as though in a museum, to sit and quietly take in each page of black-and-white pen-and-ink line drawings. Van den Ende's debut is a wordless story of a small paper boat's epic journey across a vast and fathomless ocean. It teems with myriad flora and fauna that reside somewhere between fairy tale and reality. It intrigues. It beguiles. An elegant testament to solitude, strength, and bravery.
Delightful! If you need a STARLESS SEA read-alike, you'll find this historical novel as bookish and magical but more approachable.
Intimate narrative and a story within a story device work together elegantly to unfurl the tale of January Scaller and her missing father, their wealthy benefactor, and a mysterious door in Mississippi that opens into another world. TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY has all the elements of a precocious, coming of age story within a low fantasy world. There's adventure, secret societies with nefarious plans, a big best friend pooch called Bad, and places drawn from the wildest reaches of imagination.
An undiscovered classic concerning the life, times and travels of a canine gentleman adventurer and transcendentalist. What a beautiful, wise, fierce, life-loving book this is! Like the Pooh books, there's an astonishing amount of wisdom here.
This novel features some challenging vocabulary, but it’s a great read for 4th to 5th graders--perhaps even advanced 3rd grade readers. And having read it twice, I can testify: adults also will adore it.
Thrilling adventure story? Unexpected coming-of-age? Near irresistable siren song of restlessness and the bittersweet pleasures of solitute? Whatever Rough Magic is, I tore through it in an afternoon. So will you.
I started reading this series when I was 8, I am now 32 and I still re-read it and get new things out of it. Does your kid looove the Warriors series? Their mind will be blown by the world of Redwall. Imagine, if you will, an egalitarian community of woodland creatures who fight tyranny, go on epic quests, and throw the best parties with the most scrumptious and elaborate meals you've ever read about.
Every creature, big or small, shy or outgoing, girl or boy, is valued and has an important role to play. Sometimes it's a formerly enslaved squirrel, or maybe a mute badger grandmother, or perhaps a young ottermaid who has perfect aim with a slingstone...
