CBR15Passport book from other country (dream sequence, story is from/character is from):
I am a proud of Irish decent gal (also I am a good American mix of other, but mostly I claim Irish, as we know a I-am-assuming-only-two great-grandparent came over from Ireland). So, when I saw Emma’s Freckles on Edelweiss, I was excited I did not have to wait until March 2023 to read. However, Sarah Wallace, you have a great idea, but I probably should have waited.
You see, the idea of self-pride, acceptance of our differences and a story based on Gaelic legends is potentially good, but something fell flat in the process of this telling. The story: Emma is a little girl with a lot of freckles. Of course, she is picked on about them, but her grandmother tells her how their people were blessed with them. And this, of course, makes Emma proud of her heritage and herself. That was okay, and not the issue I was having. In fact, I had not heard that legend and was excited to learn something new. I was having issues with the illustrations.
I cannot draw a stick figure to save myself, so I am not saying I could do better, but I wish Wallace had. The images of Emma make her look like a banshee. Which would be fine if we had a banshee in the story. She has an odd, shaped face, and at times her eyes almost look like Bilbo in the possessed stages of having the ring in the Lord of the Ring series. The colors are off. They are not bold or muted and lack something. Plus, their flow is off. They look like illustrations and not illustrations that come alive. Though, the ones I have chosen for here, are some of my favorites.
I want to see the final product, because as said I read this book online and sometimes that lack of intimacy really colors my opinion of things. Most likely all ages can listen to, but it is a smidgen on the longer side, so older children are better. It also would work for someone who collects stories of the old world (we do have a nice dream sequence where we travel to this other land) and/or Gaelic legends.
