Emeraldalicious: 03/23/13

Emeraldalicious by Victoria Kann is the fifth of the Pinkalicious picture books and the second one written and illustrated solely by Victoria Kann.

Peter and Pink discover that the local dump has expanded into the old field where they have played and picnicked with their parents. Using a magic wand made from a stick and the pieces of Pink's broken wand, the children transform the dump into a luscious, flowering garden as well as playground — with a castle made from old junk.

The timing of the release of Emeraldilicious couldn't be more perfect with spring just around the corner. At home my daughter and I have been busy transforming our back balcony into a butterfly garden — a process that is still on-going. Like Pink and Peter, we had to remove some old things and reuse some others. Our magic wands, though, were shovels and spades.

Somewhere along in the picture books, the original theme of unintended consequences (too much pink food turning one pink), into something where magic (unicorns, wands and whatnot) is real. Here, it's a magic wand — or rather — an enchanted stick repurposed as a magic wand. Along with the greater emphasis on magic, comes a change in the style of the illustrations — from bold collages (with samples of text and other patterns clearly visible), to an abundance of sparkles. I prefer the older style illustrations of Pinkalicious and Purplicious but my daughter seems taken with the sparkles.

Four stars

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