Review: `We are not defined by our skills, but by what we do with them.'
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 17, 2013
Yuval Harpaz is a father of three who likes jogging, personal development, writing, photography and doodling. His stories, richly illustrated, are meant to make a difference and to help children master a new level of reading. They also teach skills that are sometimes difficult to teach solely coming from parents - and that is where his fine stories come in very handy!Tommy arrives home from school, indifferent to home, food, and his mother and only is concerned that he can't get the door to his room open. His mother suggests he arrange his room: it is such a mess he cannot get in. Tommy blames the mess on his friends who were playing with Rocky the puppet monkey. His mother doesn't buy it and insists that Tommy clean his room or forego playing with his friends. Begrudgingly, Tommy faces the pile of mess in his room, sees the tail of Rocky his monkey puppet and pulls the tail, only to find himself in a strange new land with toys scattered every where - a land (Lost Toys Land) Rocky calls 'Welcome to Where Your Thoughts Are'. Tommy wants to know how to get home, but Rocky, a spider monkey able to move quickly, says Tommy must catch him first. Along the race Tommy sees all manner of lost toys who want to go home, but only Rocky knows that secret. Toy hippos, tractor tires and puzzle pieces join the search for Rocky and finally get an answer: clean up all the toys in Lost Toys Land and you'll be home. When Tommy awakens his mother praises him for getting his once messy room arranged nicely -and Tommy insists his `friends (the lost toys) helped him accomplish his goal.Many fine aspects are present in this book, not the least of which is the moral behind it. But the manner in which Yuval Harpaz writes draws the reader into not only the story, but in discovering facts about many things that his writing and illustrating make accessible. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, December 13