Review: Disruptive Comma Issues, but Outstanding Author
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 7, 2014
A vibrantly illustrated story in Portrait orientation only, Barry J McDonald has wrought a truly engaging adventure in "Finn And The Magic Chest - Fabulous Finn" that will excite the imagination and creativity of children during their own play time.  Many illustrated children's books tend to suffer formatting issues with Kindles, depending in hardware versions and individual settings.  Not so with this offering!  The text and pictures are perfectly aligned on every page.However, there is a slight speck in the ointment.  My edition was riddled with missing commas and erroneously placed commas.Example:  "Go on off you go Finn, you..."I normally gloss over minor issues, but since these appearing/disappearing commas continuously afflict otherwise admirable writing, it becomes disruptive for an adult reading aloud and confusing children reading alone.  I would have emailed the author first with this issue in case I had ended up with an older text version (it has happened), but unfortunately I could not find a contact address on the Amazon Author's Page.There are British spellings and word usages, but I count this as an added charm in line with many other great British children's stories.  All in all, this was the first work I have examined of McDonald and am very impressed indeed with the theme, writing, and general formatting.  A children's author most certainly on the rise.-Note: Since I cannot get in direct contact with the author,  if another reader can confirm that the edition I reviewed is not current and the punctuation issues are no longer present,  please do so, and I will revise accordingly.  Thanks.