I’ve been going through the Newbery winners, and this one was…ok. We follow a family who has the philosopher’s stone, go to the city of Krakow after being burnt out of their farm in the Ukraine. What follows is a bunch of episodic adventures, and a lot of Polish mythology. The woodcut images are really nifty, and there’s a theme of superstition vs. learning that plays through most of the book, however the characters are all very flat. The main family is extremely goody-goody and earnest and the bad guys are all mustache twiddlers. I don’t think this is a book to seek out, but if you happen to get your hands on it, it’s a mildly diverting read.
pewterbreath 