Where All The Little Things Live by Ian Tadashi Moore

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I was tremendously fortunate to have received an ARC copy of "Where All The Little Things Live" by Ian Tadashi Moore.  He asked me to read it and give my opinion.  So, here goes; in a nutshell... buy this book for everyone you know, and they will be delighted!

Okay, now that I got that out of my system, here's the long version:

Do you remember when you were little, and stories had morals... lessons about life and people that you were supposed to digest and internalize for all time?  That concept has been brought into the 21st Century and improved upon dramatically.  Naio, a tiny little feather - who, by the way, doesn't quite understand her own origins until she meets a few new friends - helps others to learn inclusion, acceptance, responsibility, and respect for self and others.  Now, I know that those seem like pretty heavy topics for a children's book, but Ian Tadashi Moore writes them with such delicacy that the lessons this tiny feather imparts nudges their way into your heart and soul upon the whisper of a soft breeze.  You will embrace them fully, and never forget the tiny voice who whispered it all to you, perhaps in a dream.

Okay, perhaps a little moment of melodrama there... but seriously, this is a tender, lovely, exuberantly delicate storybook that reminds one of the true nature of friendship.

The illustrations, which are exceptional in their tiny details, add depth and wonder to the stories; helping you to envision the world Ian writes about... while leaving just enough for your imagination to play with along the way.

This book is filled with fascinating tales about feathers, and balloons, and birdsong, and grass, and even the sun and the moon.  You may never look at the world in the same way again... and most certainly, you'll be much more careful where you step, and you'll move a little more slowly as you listen to the secrets the world tells you at night.  

In no way should this be misunderstood as "just another children's book".  This is a book that should be on every young reader's shelf; and adults should read it out loud, even in quiet moments, and secluded spaces, only to themselves.  Buy several, you'll be compelled to give them as gifts again and again.