As with any poetry book I read, there were poems in this collection I absolutely loved, and poems I wasn't as keen on.

But there were 5 specific poems that I had to mention as my favourites:

School Wants - a poem about the pressures of school attainment

To The Girl In The Wheelchair - in which a girl who uses a wheelchair is compared to a princess who is /not/ trapped by a dragon

To A Boy In The Supermarket - about a boy who dreams of the things he could buy if he had the money

I Like To Look In Windows - an observation of families through windows, the good and the bad

In The Twilight - an ode to the invisible school cleaners who work miracles every night

I'm very interested in how the translation from the original Latvian may have changed some of the poems.
And I loved the section at the back of the book that gave the reader a chance to learn some of the Latvian words from the original poems.

The illustrations are really sweet, I actually love the slightly messy sketchy feel they give.

I happened to spot this as the library and just had to pick it up and have a look!
I haven't read a choice book since I was a teen reading the Dr Who ones my local library had!

I'm a sucker for them - and I'm one of those people who likes to flick between the different options and see all the potential outcomes too.

Whilst I didn't overly enjoy this as a story, it was okay but nothing amazing, I love the concept. I read this one aloud with my wife who plays dnd with me and worked through the story together.

It would probably work best with a reader who already knows a bit about dnd, but could still be followed by someone with no knowledge at all.

I think I might start up a little collection of these. Maybe even see what other current franchises still make choice books. I think they would be a perfect way to give younger readers something different, and maybe even a good end of week read aloud story with a class, getting them to debate the choices and vote as we read along together.

I know it says that the book is about an introverted girl struggling with a noisy world, but I just can't help but feel such a connection to it as an autistic person who has non-speaking episodes.

I both hate and love how deep such simple words hit, and the incredibly detailed, almost scary illustrations only add to whether I'm supposed to feel comforted or uneasy.
I love it.

I actually really enjoyed this.
I am always a little wary of picture books that show disability due to the track record of those I've read.

This one however, I felt found quite a nice spot for itself.
I loved how the family were present in lots of the images, but were not the point of the story. The narrative never fell into the overused 'pressure the disabled person puts on the family' trope.
I loved how Rescue the service dog, and the wheelchair Jessica used for a time where shown as freedoms, never as limitations. And I loved the variety of aids Jessica is illustrated with - their a multiple different types of crutches for different scenarios for example.

I felt the introduction to the story was a little long, and it felt slightly clunky - I think the story could have been just as effectively told in much less words. But overall it's definitely a good one.

I read the newer little gem edition with illustrations by Hannah Coulson.

Definitely a favourite early reader of mine.
Such a short and simple story but also with such fun and depth.
The illustrations were a beautiful addition and really helped work hand in hand with the story to engage the reader in a fun adventure to the moon.

For an adult, older or depper reader there's plenty to talk about in the subtext of the story, and for a new reader, it's a fun adventure with no intimidating pages full of text.

I read the newer edition with illustrations by Thomas Docherty.

The illustrations were gorgeous. As a book of a play for children to read, it worked beautifully with the additional character art, scenes and settings. The layouts of the short sheet music for songs within the pages was incredibly helpful as well.

Overall the play itself is just a bit boring though. It's such a great idea with so much potential - it just felt like it needed a bit more. But that could always be added by children or a teacher.

I do think it would be a wonderful project for a year 6 class especially, giving them the chance to be the creative directors and letting them decide on any parts to adapt, set design, costume, music and sounds, etc. using the book as a base to work with.