• 3X3 Magazine's Illustration Annual No. 4 Merit Award Winner

"In this crisp little fable by a Dutch team, nothing Sara obtains with her sly propositions pleases her, while all the children she hoodwinks find pleasure in the things they've received. ...The strength of Tolman's colored ink-and-wash drawings lies in the contrast between the children, all rendered in fine, sharp lines, and the boldly colored landscapes in which they play, fertile ground for the imagination. At last someone gives Sara her chalk back, and she gives up her objections ("A hopscotch board doesn't have to be perfect"). Sara is not punished for her roguish trades; the point is rather that her own preoccupations blind her to the possibilities of life. While fractious children may not recognize themselves in Sara, they may well be amused by her story."
     —Publishers Weekly

"Rich in fine detail...pretty, delicately drawn illustrations."
     —Kirkus Reviews

"Kids who have surveyed a room of toys and pronounced themselves bored will see themselves in this Dutch import. The familiar premise is handsomely extended in the ink-lined, color-washed drawings, which show, in scenes of Sara's friends using their creative powers to make Sara's outlandish claims come true, a world of imagination that's inseparable from reality, reminiscent of Peter Sis' work."
     —Booklist


Show All Reviews

"In this crisp little fable by a Dutch team, nothing Sara obtains with her sly propositions pleases her, while all the children she hoodwinks find pleasure in the things they've received. ...The strength of Tolman's colored ink-and-wash drawings lies in the contrast between the children, all rendered in fine, sharp lines, and the boldly colored landscapes in which they play, fertile ground for the imagination. At last someone gives Sara her chalk back, and she gives up her objections ("A hopscotch board doesn't have to be perfect"). Sara is not punished for her roguish trades; the point is rather that her own preoccupations blind her to the possibilities of life. While fractious children may not recognize themselves in Sara, they may well be amused by her story."
     —Publishers Weekly

"Rich in fine detail...pretty, delicately drawn illustrations."
     —Kirkus Reviews

"Kids who have surveyed a room of toys and pronounced themselves bored will see themselves in this Dutch import. The familiar premise is handsomely extended in the ink-lined, color-washed drawings, which show, in scenes of Sara's friends using their creative powers to make Sara's outlandish claims come true, a world of imagination that's inseparable from reality, reminiscent of Peter Sis' work."
     —Booklist

"Delicate pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations are the highlight of this story and deftly detail the make-believe scenarios the other children enjoy."
     —School Library Journal

"Fun is in the eye of the beholder, as we watch all the amazing things that don't happen to Sara, as she's whining about the imperfections of her playthings, like the dragon who bounds through the fields behind her, beneath a treeful of tiny monkeys."
     —Chicago Tribune