This book tells the story of an unfair and greedy emperor. The illustrations are beautiful and I love how the colors are vivid. It is a nice story with the good end!

The story was interesting but I wanted more from it. I wanted the cruel Emperor to find out that the chest is empty and have people rebel or he simply finds it empty and slaughters everyone. I don't know. I wanted more. However I did like the artwork.

This was shorter than I'd expected. It's a simple story about a king who comes into possession of an enchanted chest. A paragraph of text is interspersed with a full page of artwork, and the latter is absolutely gorgeous. Considering this is a children's book, however, I found some of the wording and the subject matter a little too mature. And I'm not a fan of children's authors spelling out what the moral of the story is at the end. Children are smarter than we give them credit for; they'll usually understand it without your help.

Thank you to Netgalley and Lion Forge for providing a review copy.

Un bel giorno, un povero pescatore estrae dalle profondità del mare un bellissimo baule.

Raffinato ed elegante, è anche robusto. Molto robusto. Così robusto che è impossibile aprirlo.

Non solo per il pescatore, che se lo gode ben poco - ma anche per i servitori del Re, noto per la sua avarizia, che vuole assolutamente sapere che tesori custodisca il baule.

Stregoni, alchimisti, fabbri, forzuti si susseguono, fallendo.

Finché...

Illustrata con eccezionale raffinatezza, questa meravigliosa fiaba è una gemma di ironia e saggezza insieme.

Da tenere custodita con cura - ma in una bella libreria aperta a tutti, non in un baule chiuso a chiave. ;)

A fisherman found a beautiful chest that washed ashore the beach that is sealed shut. As the chest finds its way to the King he becomes obsessed with opening the chest.

When I came across the book I had assumed the book was a middle grade fairy tale, but I was surprised that it was a children’s book. Based on the summary and cover of the book I was expecting an adventure and the actual story was very different from what I was expecting. I received a digital arc but I’m pretty sure the illustrations were oil painted and I was impressed with the amount of detail shown.

I do have to say that the message of the book really through me for a loop with how abrupt it was. I had to look back to see how the story fitted the theme. The events in the story do meet the theme, but with how the story was directed I was expecting a different theme.

My Review: I was intrigued by the tapestry style of the cover of this one and the synopsis really continued with the same tone. It definitely has that classic folk tale feel to it between the illustrations, the story itself and even the font used for the text. It was a little short compared to a lot of the graphic novels I have read, but it makes it enjoyable for all ages. It does seem a little at odds with the moral presented at the end of the story, you are expecting it to be about greed, but it instead veers off to the value of the idea of things we have versus the actual things we have, which is a bit odd but it does work. All in all an enjoyable book with really stunning art.



My Rating: This is a really beautiful book, I would like to see what it is like in person, they could really do a lot with it to feed into the old world feel. It was a bit brief and the moral got a bit lost in the end but it was still enjoyable and all ages could read it. I give it a rating of Three Paws.




Note: Review will go live on the blog on Saturday, May 19th, 2018 @ 8:00am EST

Love this new fairy tale!!! The art style was beautiful, although the story was, well, a bit dark. The emporer has everyone he’s displeased with Whipped😳 I thought that was a but much for a children’s book...

I'm a sucker for beautiful illustrations, and the ones in this book are absolutely gorgeous. Illustrator David Sala has created magic on the page. Even though I was reading an e-ARC, I almost felt as though I was holding a full-sized picture book as I read.

Jean-François Chabas has written a lovely story that would blend in with any fairy tale collection. The moral at the end misses the mark for me a bit, though, and left me wondering whether the idea didn't translate well, or if I'm just so shallow I didn't get it.

My insecurities aside, this is a beautiful book that would enchant readers of any age.

This book asks the question, sort of like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat" target="_blank">Schrödinger's cat</a>, where we an not see inside the box to see if the cat is alive or dead, if we can not see or break into the enchanted chest, is what is inside just as valuable?

The lynx, in the picture below, sees through the box, and sees there is nothing inside, but because no one can open it, does it matter what is inside? The lynx tells the cruel king that there is vast wealth inside, and that is enough for him.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-441" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-03-at-9.44.29-AM.png" alt="The enchanted chest" />

On the surface, it is a delightfully illustrated fairy tale of greed, and evil kings. On the other hand, it is the concept of desiring something we can't have, ever.

It is enjoyable on both levels.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This is a beautiful book, with richly coloured images that sing from the pages. There's an air of Kay Nielsen in some of the images, particularly those of the alchemist and the magician - the strong vertical lines and use of pattern is stunning. The story itself is written in disarmingly simple language that gives it the perfect fairy tale feel. This would work perfectly for a bedtime story for children, but there is also enough richness in the pictures, and humour in the text, for this to be very enjoyable for adults. I only wish it was longer!