"The Palace of Stars" follows a young girl and her great-uncle as they go out on Saturday outings. Every Saturday, Amanda's great-uncle Max takes her to the zoo. They ride the trolley there, and later get ice cream. He even buys Amanda a fancy purse. After all this, Amanda decides that it's time for her great-uncle to be treated to a nice trip. She takes him to an extravagant movie theater, which Amanda calls the Palace of Stars. While they're there, Amanda pays for everything, just like her great-uncle does for her. I thought this book was really cute and heartwarming. It reminds me of when I was a kid and I tried to treat my parents on different occasions with the little money that I had. I never got to do anything as nice for them as Amanda did for her great-uncle Max, but it was still nice to remember that. I think kids would enjoy this book since it has very detailed, interesting illustrations and a cute story that they could possibly relate to. ( )

I found this story to be okay. It had a nice message and a cute story. I am not sure if kids today would like it as much, for some reason it seemed old-fashioned to me. I really liked the pictures; they were styled differently than most children’s literature. I did not really like how they seemed a little more serious than the children’s books that I have seen in the past. The colors were not as bright, and did not pop as much. Although I did not find the story extremely engaging, it does have a nice idea. In the book the girl’s uncle takes her to the zoo. It is their little tradition. Three Saturdays later from the first outing she describes, she tells her uncle “I’ve been saving for weeks,” “And now it’s my turn to treat you.” It demonstrates responsibility at a young age. The fact that she is able to navigate herself to the movie theater without help shows maturity as well. This may have a good influence on kids to give back to someone who has treated you nicely and provided a lot of opportunities for you. ( )