This is a truly intricate book. The illustrations and the text mingle together into a beautiful tapestry of story telling. The writing alone would have gotten it a four star rating, but with the beautiful pictures this book was a lot of fun. The text is a bit longer than most picture books, so it's not a terribly fast read, but it's a good one if you have the time. ( )

This was an ok story. Part of it were entertaining, but it was kind of boring. It's about Sophia, the alchemist's dog and how the alchemist must figure out how to make gold for the king. He can't figure it out, but Sophia manages to do it one night. Then when the king comes, he sees the alchemist's drawings and decides he wants the man to be a painter instead. It just didn't make very much sense. ( )