4 stars
A gorgeous book to immerse yourself in. Beautiful artwork, a captivating story, and wonderful lessons and messages. Reminiscent of Kay O’Neill‘s The Tea Dragon Society. Gentle fantasy with fantastic artwork.
This book is so much more than pretty pictures and Xu accomplishes a lot with a relatively simple story. Sophie’s insecurity is easy to relate to. She’s very hard on herself and takes others’ criticism to heart. The artwork provides a great representation of inner dark thoughts intruding on everyday life and how they can bring you down. A great reminder of how that voice in your head isn’t always always telling the truth.
I also enjoyed the messages of standing up for others, even if it means calling out an adult for mistreating someone. It’s a good reminder that adults make mistakes too. I loved that the adults in this book recognized their mistakes and worked to be better.
A fantastic read with immersive art and a wonderful story. Really enjoyed this one.