Order your copy now of THE FLINT HEART (Candlewick Press, September 2011) by Katherine and John Patterson with illustrations by the brilliant John Rocco (the ARC has them in black and white and I cannot wait to see the full color final illustrations). Plan now to read this one aloud to classes of kids of all ages. Read it to the young for the wonderful story of a young boy and his sister who must find a way to destroy a flint heart with the help of some fairies. Read it to middle and high school students so that they can hear the sheer beauty of the words, each and every one of them, that tell this story replete with archetypes and motifs and lore and legend. Read it yourself and wonder at the storytelling that transports you easily to fairy kingdoms and to other enchanted places to meet creatures of myth. Read it for the humor which abounds and the wonder is inspired and the adventure as it rages. What a gift you will give to yourself and to others. <225
