Review: illustrations that have a touch of whimsy and cubic-feel build the feel for this hybrid picture book
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 10, 2013
Gorgeous illustrations that have a touch of whimsy and cubic-feel build the feel for this hybrid picture book: children as young as 3 will delight in the illustrations, the words flow off the tongue with imagery in word and picture to keep the story at the center.Zelda is a questioner, always curious and having a question on her lips, she will even find herself struggling momentarily for the ‘right’ word, before she just makes one up and moves on to her next question.  Her parents indulged her questions, and answered them to the best of their ability.  When a tragic accident happens, Zelda’s parents float away in a balloon, and her words seemed to go with her.Zelda is living with her grandmother now: she wants to speak, to ask questions, to tell her about things that have happened, but all of her words seem to be caught in a cloud that follows her like a shadow.  The longer she doesn’t speak, the larger the cloud becomes.  All of the words are broken and scattered, just a big ball of letters without a word to be found.Frustrated with the lack of words, Zelda takes a trip on her cloud, over deserts and oceans, travelling to the end of the world.  Missing her parents and her words, all seems hopeless for Zelda.I truly did enjoy this story: illustrated with a nod to a modern/cubist style that manages to enhance the words I can imagine parents and children curled up and reading this together.  While the plot may be unsettling for some with parent’s being lost, Zelda is not a victim just sitting and whinging.  She takes action and chases her answers: slowly the words to settle her fears form once she has done more than wish to speak.Often as parents we don’t realize that our children’s fears are rooted in those desires that we all have for love, home, acceptance and security.  This takes that issue and deals with it head-on in an entertaining way, that doesn’t overwhelm children with either their fears or the solution.  Zelda is easy for them to understand, and the illustrations cleverly mix the familiar with the fantastic .I received an eArc copy from the author for purpose of honest review with Novel Publicity tours. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.