Three Magic Balloons

Three Magic Balloons: as told to Julianna Margulies and her sisters by Paul Margulies
Illustrator: Grant Shaffer
Publisher: Piccolo NERO
Date:30 April 2016

I give this:

This was one of those books that when I opened the package it came in I felt like a child again, I opened each page with eyes wide open excited by the prospect of what lay beneath the pages.  The story within and the illustrations took me on a journey that three little girls went on with three magic balloons and dreams.

At the beginning of the book there is a section explaining the background to the story, which is a beautiful memory for Julianna Margulies and her sisters Rachel and Alexandra to keep since the loss of their father who is the original writer of this story. In this section they share that their father always told them “Magic is everywhere. You just need to know where to look!” I believe I found that magic that he was talking about, it is in this book.

The book begins like other stories with three sisters going to the zoo with their dad, it was too cold for ice cream, they had plenty of candy (or lollies as we say in Australia), but the shivering little lambs and rabbits needed food.   Each time the girls went to the Zoo they always bought the little bags of food for the rabbits and lambs.  One spring day the balloon man gifted them each a balloon “I have seen that you don’t spend your money on yourselves. So I am going to give each of you something magical.” This is where the adventures begin.

I believe that Julianna and her sisters are so blessed that their dad had such a creative imagination.  With beds flying out the window and into the sky, with lions and sheep, and angelic singing your imagination will be taken on a journey like no other.

This book is one of a kind, it has been very well written and the illustrations are so beautiful that they take you on a journey all on their own.  From bright blues, yellows and reds to the subtle backgrounds and the whimsical dream like sequences the illustrations are a wonderful addition to the story.  You can tell that the illustrator shared the vision of the writer.

I highly recommend this picture book, to live the magic, to learn from the girls selflessness and to gain inspiration for your own magical adventures.

I received this book from the publisher Piccolo NERO in exchange for an honest review.  This does not affect the content of my review