#19

The Enchanted Rope
Written by David D Bernstein
Illustrated by Sally Taylor
Outskirts Press
2010
20 pages

Fantasy

“This rope will connect you and me forever.”

            I chose this book because it fell into the Fantasy category. I failed to realize that it was so difficult to find books that are categorized as fantasy. This story is about a little boy named Jack whose mother has just recently passed away. He misses his mother and weaves a magical rope out of wildflowers for her. As he weaves the enchanted rope, he remembers all of the memories that he and his mother had together. When Jack completed the rope, he threw it towards the sky, and climbed to where the angels lived. When he reached the clouds, he saw a castle guarded by a golden dragon. He approaches it and realizes that the dragon is his mother. He shows her the magical rope and says that it will connect them forever. Jack’s mother gives him a tour of her wonderful world and tells him that he can visit her anytime. When darkness came, Jack’s rope hit the ground and he notices that his rope is missing one red flower. He knew that he mom had kept it. As he walks home, he thinks about visiting his mom again.

            Sally Taylor uses bright watercolor paints to illustrate the beautiful full-page pictures in this book. Each page has the same layout with a picture on the left and a green page of text on the right. I think that Taylor uses the green paper because there is a lot of green in her illustrations. This paperback book’s title page is the exact same as the cover of the book. The next page is the verso, where the publishing history has been printed.

            I would not recommend this book to anyone. Although it is easy to read, it isn’t well written. The story reads very choppy and does not flow. It almost seems as if there are parts of the story missing. I did purchase this book, but I do not plan on using it in my classroom library.

The Enchanted Rope is the first children’s book that David Bernstein has written. He has worked with children for several years as a librarian and a camp counselor. He has been awarded five Editor’s Choice Awards. This book, however, has not been awarded any medals or honors.