The Seeing Stick by Jane Yolen

The Seeing Stick was originally published in 1977; however, the book has been re-released with new breathtaking pictures. Hwei Ming is the emperor’s daughter. She has the perfect life except that she is blind. One day the emperor sends out a decree offering a fortune in jewels to anyone who can help his daughter see. Monks come from far and wide to help the girl, but just like any other princess story it is the underdog, a little old man, who is able to help her the most.

This is a beautiful and touching story. After reading it I was grateful for my sight and touched by the little old man who spent the rest of his life helping the princess. The story was great, the pictures are fabulous. Some of the pictures are in black and white and some are in color. There is also random embossing in the book which makes some pictures look even more exquisite and makes them almost jump off the page. This is a definite must read. Don’t expect it to be a Caldecott runner however; the illustrator, Daniela Terrazzini, lives in London.

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Funny Farm by Mark Teague 2009

There are things I liked about Mark Teague's newest book, Funny Farm , and things I didn't like. Where should I start? I'll do the "didn'ts" first. The illustrations show animals personified. Well, some of the animals are. The main characters, Edward, and his farm family relatives, all dogs, are humanized. They stand upright, do farm chores, eat at a table, wear clothes, knit (yes, with paws) and sleep in beds. Most everybody else on and around the farm, who are also animals, act like animals. They are outside, roll in mud, live in the barn, and require care from their owners. It struck me the most on the page spread where there are pigs playing in puddle in the rain and Edward, a black and white boxer, watches from inside the house. I thought "You're a dog! Go play with them!" But, alas, he can't, seeing as how he goes through his entire visit to the farm wearing a suit and red bow tie. Another picture that bothered me was the maple syrup pa...

Review: Super Boba Cafe

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Plain Kate

Plain Kate by Erin Bow Scholastic, 2010. 314 pgs. Fiction Katerina Svetlana is named after her mother, who died giving birth. Her father, Piotr the woodcarver, calls her plain Kate and she is soon known as Plain Kate, after the butcher's witticism, because she is "plain as a stick." But her father calls her Kate, my star. Piotr teaches his daughter to carve and she is on her way to becoming a master when her father dies of a strange sleeping sickness that plagues her town and the country round about. In a magical land, Kate has no magic but her skill. Still, she is so good her neighbors think her a witch and drive her away, but not before a real witch comes along and she trades him her shadow for the promise that she won't have to travel alone. He gives her a talking cat. Kate falls in with gypsies who also find reason to hurt and abandon her and she is rescued by the witch who takes her upriver in a terrible quest to avenge his dead sister and bring her back from...

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