NECKLACE OF RAINDROPS by Joan AikenIndie Bound Description: Here are eight gloriously imaginative stories for eight satisfying sessions of bedtime reading. There’s a flying apple pie, a cat that’s bigger than an elephant, a house that lays an egg, storybook animals that leap out of their books at night, and a wealth of other wonderful characters and ideas, all with the colorful, dreamlike quality of the very best fairy tales. Joan Aiken’s delicious prose is a joy to read aloud to very young listeners yet simple enough for the independent reader to savor on his or her own. Kevin Hawkes’s illustrations–nearly 60 of them–capture with great flair and fun the magical adventures and the triumph of the good over the bad.
My Thoughts:Charming, fun book! My favorite story is "The Three Travelers" but they are all delightful. This reminds me of the fairy tale books I used to read when I younger, but I think these are better. They are funnier and lighter and more imaginative. The illustrations in this book are great, but I wish there could have been some color illustrations. The stories just seem to call out for lush, colorful images. Well, maybe in my free time someday I will paint some for fun!