FernFolio

When the kingdom of Thibodeau announces the birth of a royal baby, the Queen of Iddison sets out to gather the finest gifts both from her own kingdom and from the lands between her kingdom and that of Thibodeau.  She composes a long list of items and eight great carts, pulled by eight elephants, are filled with treasures.  Seeds and vegetables and livestock to feed the body, books and toys and musical instruments to feed the mind, cottons and wools and silks and precious jewels to cloth and ornament the body, marvellous plants and animals to create the most pleasant of environments, and coloured sands to inspire creativity are gathered for the new baby, for all of its neighbours have known the generosity of kingdom of Thibodeau, and all want to help to celebrate the royal birth.
Travelling with the Queen of Iddison and her great caravan of gifts, is her young daughter, Cassidy, who is just old enough to have learned the alphabet and how to spell her name.  She, too, has made a list, one that she has tucked into a pocket and consults each time her royal mother checks her own list.  After the gifts from the Queen of Iddison and her many neighbours have been presented to the King and Queen of Thibodeau, and each one has been admired and exclaimed over, the young Cassidy draws out her own list and proves that there is one gift much greater than all of the treasures of Iddison combined.
The List is a delightful story that reminds the reader of all of the many things that contribute to the upbringing of a happy child.  Hutchins’ prose rolls off the tongue, making this a fun book for reading aloud to children.  Van Lieshout’s illustrations are joyous and childlike.  The List is bound to become a treasured classic.
FernFolio Editor