Lisa Mertins

The illustrations in this book are creative and distinctive; the language is unabashedly folklorish. But the story just doesn't hang together.

One page didactically points out that perfume on earth can't get up to the moon in space. Another forces a story element to rely on a gingko leaf making it out into space. One page briefly addresses jealousy but leaves the concept unresolved. Another fails to explain why a ginkgo tree old enough to have many branches had never noticed the phases of the moon before.

Is it a just-so story? Is it about unrequitable love? Is it just a celebration of a few beautiful things? If that's what it is, it's nice, but it's not a library keeper.… (mehr)