Lily Firehands and the Secret of Warmth
Craig Philip Staufenberg, Author, Illustrator
Nova Stardust, Painter
Lily has never known what it is to be warm. She was born in the middle of a frozen river in a boat stuck in the ice. The theft of a piece of wood from her boat sends her on a journey into a world filled with warmth.
I have mixed feelings about this book. It isn’t logical. I like fantasy but this book is just strange. First we have a boat stuck in ice in the middle of a river. I got that and I can see how that could happen. The people could have returned where they came from but instead, they stayed where it is very cold. They did not look for other people. The book did not explain why they stayed where they were despite the fact the boat wasn’t going to move in ice that did not thaw. The people did not know what four legged animals were. They did not know what fire was. They did not seem to know what it meant to be warm. The humans seem unfamiliar with animals, warmth, and fire.
I found the writing strange and annoying. While the writing is simplified the format isn’t like any children’s book I have ever read, it felt robotic. The font is very small. The story is poorly divided from page to page. There are too many words on each page. Children like books with a few words per page.
Thank you NetGalley for providing a review copy.