Just received a review, thought I would share it, Tony

21st Annual Writer’s Digest Annual Book Awards

Entry Title: Ashley and Daniyyel's Amazing Adventure

Author: T. J. Jurgens

Entry Category: Children's Picture books

Judges Commentary*:

I think this is a very creative idea for a story, and I very much like the message -- that even the smallest creature makes a difference. The illustrations for this story are quite lovely, and the cover illustration is very striking. I love the friendship that develops between these two unlikely creatures, particularly the way the magical phoenix comes to respect the little butterfly. I think this story would be a beautiful read-aloud book, although it is certainly accessible for young independent readers as well. I do think that the space adventure stretches the limits of believability a bit too much -- up until that point, the story was completely captivating. The story also seems to become a bit wordy as the two friends leave Earth behind, and the amount of text on the page increases dramatically at the climax of the story. With children's books, finding ways to say more with fewer words is always a good strategy, since young children tend to have short attention spans. I love to see high energy writing in children's fiction, but especially at the climax of the story. Finding powerful verbs and limiting unnecessary descriptors can be a good way to accomplish this. Overall, I think this story is quite successful.