The Most Magnificent Thing - Ashley Spires - ★★★★.½

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AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Ashley Spires
SERIES: Most Magnificent Thing, #1
GENRE: Children's Picture Book.
PUBLICATION DATE: April 1, 2014.
RATING: 4.5 stars.


In a Nutshell: A lovely picture book about the frustrations that accompany perfectionism. Adorable characters, great storyline, nice message, cute illustrations. Much recommended!


Plot Preview:
A little girl and her best friend, her pet pug, love to do everything together. She enjoys making things, so one day, she decides to create the most magnificent thing that she has already imagined and planned out in her head. She employs her dog as her assistant and starts her work. But is it always easy to get what’s in our mind out in reality?


I happened to have the ARC of a picture book by this author, and on opening it, I noticed that it was the fourth book of a running series. Luckily, my library had the first book, so I sang just as Julie Andrews did: “Let’s start at the very beginning…” 😉

The dedication itself makes clear that this 2014-published book is meant for some really special children: “for all the little perfectionists of the world.” Having been an ex-member of the perfectionists’ club (I still succumb to the pressure of perfectionism at times), I know how frustrating it is when something doesn’t work out the way I want, even after I put in 100% efforts. This picture book captures the emotional ordeal of creativity and the vexation of aiming for the best but not hitting the mark.

It’s amazing to have a female tinkerer being the lead of such a story; there are so few books showing girls capable of working with tools and manufacturing things. It is equally amazing to see her struggle, lose her patience, get angry, cry and even contemplate giving up. The creative process doesn’t involve instant gratification, and little readers, especially of today’s generation, need to learn the values of patience and persistence, both of which come out well from this book. I also loved the role her dog plays in this story. When we are struggling, it helps to take support and help from our friends, whether human or canine.

The story is written in prose. Despite being aimed at younger readers, the text doesn’t compromise on vocabulary. I loved the myriad action words and emotion words scattered throughout the text. An amazing opportunity for little ones to enhance their word bank in an entertaining way. Further, some of the important words are highlighted through CAPS, offering the perfect opportunity to learn about stressed enunciation.

The digital illustrations are equally amazing. Sketched by the author herself, every page captures the feelings of the little girl and her dog excellently. I love the use of the page space – the text and the illustrations align perfectly with each other, instead of having all the text in one huge block. The typeface is also perfect: elegant as well as legible. (Noting the name for my future reference: Pompiere.)

All in all, I enjoyed this wonderful story and am looking forward to the next book of the series. Much recommended to little perfectionists who need to know that it’s okay to not get things right immediately. This book would be great for readers aged 4-8 years.

This was a library read.

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