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The Shoemaker’s Splendid Lamp
In The Shoemaker’s Splendid Lamp by Tuula Pere and Georgia Stylou, we follow a sickly young boy named Aron whose tenacity and determination keep his spirits high when all hope seems lost. The Shoemaker, Aron’s father, is deeply devastated by the fact that his son may not make it through the freezing winter. Until Aron spots, an oil lamp that he knows will help aid in his recovery so that he and his father can go fishing next summer, but also allow his father to work more hours into the night to sell more shoes to help feed his family.
At the story’s beginning, we become overwhelmingly sympathetic to the woes of the Shoemaker and his family. Knowing the burdens that come with having a large family grounds us as readers to connect to the characters. The message of never losing hope is self-evident whenever Aron speaks. He may have been deathly ill, with significantly low odds of surviving, but he kept positive and would speak of the future, which is a difficult task to accomplish, yet he does it with grace and maturity. It shows how resilient children are and gives power to them for what could only be seen as a vulnerable, sick child. This story also speaks to the community, where the rich man comes to help by giving lamp oil to the family, ultimately allowing Aron’s recovery. Showing how small acts of kindness can truly change lives and proving that sticking together is all for the greater good.
The Shoemaker’s Splendid Lamp is an inspirational children’s book that shows how positive thoughts and kindness can impact the world around you. I would highly recommend this story to young readers as it is skillfully descriptive in writing and keeps readers enraptured throughout the story.
Pages: | ASIN : B07HYX3385
Strong Is…
![Strong Is . . . by [Pulliam, April B.]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/5103VC10bBL.jpg)
What is strong? According to Merriam-Webster, strong is not mild or weak. But what exactly does that mean? To determine if someone or something is strong you need to look at it in context and compare it to other things that are similar. Strong Is… by April Pulliam and illustrated by Amy Grantham looks at the situation through the eyes of a child. The child is relaying all the ways they have heard the word strong used to describe people and things. Each situation gives a new view on what makes something strong or not. As you go through the book you encounter funny images like a stinky dog or a hungry lion, but then it starts to focus more on people and the images become more serious; a hospital, a distraught mother. It all leads up to the end with a picture of a small child. While the book never says cancer in the story line, it is implied with the imagery and by reading up on the author’s page at the end.
This is a challenging subject and this book is a great way to introduce a young child to what might be going on. Learning that it’s okay and even when you’re little you can be strong in your own way. I think this is a great book for siblings or even a child that may be going through this to read and gain some confidence. It’s an emotional topic that is handled with dignity and simplified for young readers. I recommend this book to anyone that knows someone going through an illness and trying to explain it to a young child.
Pages: 15 | ASIN: B07NKH1FNC
Globes Disease
Globes Disease by Lance Keeble is an edge of your seat thriller! We follow Jodi and several of her friends as they deal with an affliction affecting all of them. Their small town is under siege by a Vampire, who hunts those with such an affliction and government agencies promising them a cure. This strange mix of individuals must come together if they hope to survive. They will not only have to fight for each other, but fight to keep their humanity in the process.
I did not know what to expect going into this book. The cover art was interesting, as was the title, but once the story got going I was more mystified by what genre this novel fits into. It’s not quite science fiction, even with the disease device. It does not feel paranormal with the vampire and lycanthropy. Even with the suspense/thriller elements thrown in, they alongside with all the other speculative fiction elements do not define the book entirely. For the indiscriminate genre reader, this book is for sure a treat, because it plays with all the familiar conventions found in those respective genres.
From page to page, Keeble’s prose is electric. The characters jump off the page with each thought and action that they conduct. And to some degree, I felt like I knew these characters at one point in my life, because of the breath that Keeble can breathe into them. I was amazed. Some of the names had me scoff, like the characters, Quake and Ano, but as time went on the names kind of went with them and felt natural.
All in all, the pages read very easy and the reader shouldn’t be surprised when they find themselves twenty pages in after a blink. The pacing Keeble maintains is one that I admired, since it lends to the novel’s suspense and thriller architecture. And it is not only that, but the mystery that exists within the early pages of the book, because as the reader you want to know how all these various characters get swept up into this awful mess.
There were some hang ups for me as a reader, mainly along the lines of how many points of view Keeble chose to follow. It makes the chapters very short and it can ready almost choppy at times, since we are jumping from head to head. This flaw is only saved by how well written his characters are.
The final verdict is this: if you are looking for an interesting and pulse-pounding read than I would recommend this book. If you are searching for a book that defies genre convention and definition than this is the book you are looking for. If you desire a book with a fun case of characters bound in a common mission and goal, when the world is so divided, then this is the book for you. If any of those reasons apply to you then I would very much recommend this book.
Pages: 353 | ASIN: B01F0D0GVY
LITERARY TITAN 