"Mystery Bottle"'s illustrations have such fine detail in them, it's hard not to stare at the pages for longer than any other children's book. Each page has a faint map in the background, putting an emphasis on the great lengths of travel mentioned in the book. There's also what appears to be Persian script hidden throughout the book, and when we get to page "and through the city" we see that Bailey has landed in Iran, according to the map in the background. Bolouch also takes the time to label each item in the illustrations, reflecting labels on maps. This all leads us to understand that Bailey's family lives far away in Iran, in a different culture from America. I really enjoyed the illustrations in this book, they gave much more information than the words themselves gave! ( )

A boy and his grandfather separated by borders, politics, and distance. Mystery bottle unites them.

This is a fun tale of an American boy who receives a "mystery bottle" from his Iranian grandfather which turns out to contain a magical wind that blows him to his grandfather's house for a visit. The whimsical tale takes a more touching turn as the last page and dust jacket reveal the inspiration for the story: The author's father-in-law put his son on a plane in 1978 just before the Iranian revolution, and was able to have only limited contact with him for years afterward.

The beautiful illustrations for this book won the 2007 Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Award. ( )

I wish more of the story in the endnote was incorporated into the story proper, since I had my strongest emotional response to that. Still, this is a nice story with fun illustrations. I like the magical realism and the maps and words and whatnot that are there begging to be examined in the backgrounds. ( )