Mystery Bottle

by Kristen Balouch

Book Overview

Winner of the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Award, Mystery Bottle is a delightful picture book about a boy in Brooklyn and his grandfather in Iran that shows us that love has no borders. A boy in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 078680999X
• ISBN13: 9780786809998
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.77 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 10.3" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Charming and beautifully illustrated story!

Mystery Bottle is a delight...bright, colorful, and intricately detailed, Balouch's whimsical collages bring to mind the playful skill of Maira Kalman and Simms Taback. The story is just as good, and will certainly hook the young reader who loves a bit of mystery with his or her pictures. (Parents and grandparents will also appreciate the quiet lessons to be learned about family and love.) Magical!

Beautiful book

This is a wonderful book for kids of all ages. It is rich both visually and conceptually. The story has layers of meaning that will appeal to everyone. A boy receives a brown paper parcel with a mysterious bottle in it, and is magically transported to a far-away land, and reunited with his grandfather, whom he has rarely seen. Young children will delight in the magic of the journey, while older children may begin to understand the deeper concept of struggling to maintain family relationships across geographic and political boundries. As for the illustrations, they are just stunning. The style is playful but not simple; the color sense is subtle and unique. Millions of tiny details are layered over maplike tableaux. making it fun for children to pore over the pictures and discover all of the interesting little details. It's nice to see a new children's picture book and story that doesn't rehash the same old stuff. Well done!