Reviewed by: BigAl with input from The Princess
Genre: The
Idea Tree Children’ s Picture Book
The
Stars Twinkle Brightly Illustrated Children’s Book
Approximate word count:
The Idea Tree Fifteen pages (excluding front and
back matter)
The Stars Twinkle Brightly 2,100-2,200 words
Availability
The Idea Tree
The Stars Twinkle
Brightly
Click
on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or
Smashwords store
Author:
“Mary E.
Fam, an Educator, has taught students of all ages locally and abroad. She also
serves her community as a Youth Mentor. In addition to her Master's
thesis/dissertation "The Social and Academic Effects of Bullying"
(Fam, 2006), Mary has published various articles on teaching tools that promote
student success and been involved in curriculum development at elementary and
secondary levels. She is a member of numerous educational organizations that
specialize in professional development for teachers and excellence in
Education.”
Description:
The Idea Tree
“This is
the fantastical tale of the origin of Fall
(Autumn) as the product of a single idea. The story resonates messages of
confidence, courage, anti-bullying concepts and the encouragement to go forward
with a good idea.”
The Stars Twinkle Brightly
“The story of an eight-year-old boy who
discovers he has cancer. The author transforms an otherwise unpleasant topic
into an uplifting and useful resource for parents and children dealing with
cancer. The boy’s triumph over cancer leaves the reader feeling joyful and
comforted and serves as a testimony to the power of perseverance and love. The
story promises to provide a positive perspective on the many negatives of
childhood cancer. The illustrations give life to the boy’s courage and
determination in a colourful and cheerful way!”
Appraisal:
I gave The
Princess, my nine year-old granddaughter, several children’s books to read and
then quizzed her about them afterwards. Two were Mary Fam’s books, The Idea Tree and The Stars Twinkle Brightly. As soon as I mentioned the first of
these in our Q&A session, she smiled and with excitement in her voice said,
“I really like this author.”
Before I
had a chance to ask my first question about The
Idea Tree, she asked if I wanted to know the grade (on an A, B, C, D, F
scale, as I’d asked her to do for previous books). She said it was A++.
(Apparently Ms. Fam did some extra credit work and scored over 100%.) She
thought the vocabulary and story of both books were a good fit for her age (a
couple months into grade three) and a year younger. Those in grade one (at
least this early in the year) wouldn’t be reading yet.
The message
of this book, that it was okay to be different and to “go for it” if you have
an idea, is one that seemed to resonate with The Princess. The photographs in
the book, while viewable in a grayscale Kindle, really cry out for a color
reader such as a Kindle Fire or other tablet computer, as the colors are a big
part of the story, supporting and helping drive the message home.
The Stars Twinkle Brightly is longer with many more words. The
pictures aren’t as critical to the story, so the necessity isn’t as high for a
color reader, although still preferred. When The Princess said, “I really like
this author,” she was talking about both books. This one also received an A++,
as well as getting the nod when asked to pick her favorite of the two. When I
asked her favorite part, I was surprised that her answer was the beginning. She
then quoted the first line of the book from memory, “the stars twinkle brightly
when the night is quiet and calm.” It makes sense that catching the attention
of a young reader from the beginning matters at least as much as with older
readers and there was something about this opening line that hooked her.
However,
the story, about an eight year-old diagnosed with cancer, obviously interested The
Princess as well. A couple years ago she was in an accident that involved
hospital time and multiple surgeries, which she related to the challenges the
protagonist of this story went through, and she commented in comparison to the
girl with cancer in this story, her experience hadn’t been so bad.
When I read
it, I agreed; it was a good story, and would be especially well suited to a
child of this age who is going through this experience or knows someone who is.
(The author went through this when a child, which lends authenticity to the
story.) If The Princess’ reaction is a good indication, the target audience is
also capable of relating the story to their own lives and experiences.
The
Princess says she “really likes books.” The future author also gave these books
high marks for inspiration, saying they gave her “ideas to write her own
books.”
FYI:
Although I
noticed at least one word using UK spelling conventions (colour) and there
might be others I missed, it didn’t seem to be an issue for The Princess, which
is how it should be. I’ve noticed that she, and I’m guessing many young
readers, who are still developing skills in spelling and constantly increasing
their vocabularies through their reading, don’t get hung up on such trivial
matters as they focus on the story and work out what words they haven’t
encountered before are and what they mean.
Format/Typo Issues:
No
significant issues
Rating: ***** Five stars
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