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A review by jennifermreads
The Bookshop Girl by Sylvia Bishop
4.0
Property Jones lives in a bookstore – but she cannot read! Little does she know, her secret just may save her family’s future.
I am a sucker for books about books or set in bookstores/libraries or where reading is central to the plot. *Check*Check*Check* This book had it all! Property is a brilliant young girl who was “found” in her adopted family’s lost-and-found cupboard within their small bookstore. She is quite happy in her life with them and with her unique first name. When the family wins a large book emporium in a drawing, their lives change as their book surroundings become mountainous!
The idea of the rotating rooms (I pictured a large Ferris wheel placing rooms in front of doorways) with their spectacular themes spurs the imagination. And, if you need a little bit of help nudging those memory-pictures into place, the illustrations of Poly Bernatene are simply marvelous! So, yes, the setting is top-notch. But the mystery that is solved by the young girl with the secret of not being able to read just makes this story terrific. We all struggled, at some point, with putting those mysterious forms into letters and words. Some struggle with it longer than others. Property took her lack of reading-skill and wove into a power of observation. Her attentiveness solves her family’s dilemma.
This was a wonderful tale that is sure to enchant young readers. Once they inhale this one, they should race to the wonderful world of Mr. Lemoncello and immerse themselves in Chris Grabenstein’s great stories!
I am a sucker for books about books or set in bookstores/libraries or where reading is central to the plot. *Check*Check*Check* This book had it all! Property is a brilliant young girl who was “found” in her adopted family’s lost-and-found cupboard within their small bookstore. She is quite happy in her life with them and with her unique first name. When the family wins a large book emporium in a drawing, their lives change as their book surroundings become mountainous!
The idea of the rotating rooms (I pictured a large Ferris wheel placing rooms in front of doorways) with their spectacular themes spurs the imagination. And, if you need a little bit of help nudging those memory-pictures into place, the illustrations of Poly Bernatene are simply marvelous! So, yes, the setting is top-notch. But the mystery that is solved by the young girl with the secret of not being able to read just makes this story terrific. We all struggled, at some point, with putting those mysterious forms into letters and words. Some struggle with it longer than others. Property took her lack of reading-skill and wove into a power of observation. Her attentiveness solves her family’s dilemma.
This was a wonderful tale that is sure to enchant young readers. Once they inhale this one, they should race to the wonderful world of Mr. Lemoncello and immerse themselves in Chris Grabenstein’s great stories!