I usually read accompanied by the sound of good music. I almost always choose between a touch of jazz by the master Chet Baker or I lazily listen to the Stabat Mater of Dvořák. After all they are the CDs that are almost stapled to my old CD player. These musical choices did not work with Blue Sparkles by Sissy Pantelis. So, I read the book without sound and then in the second passage through the final lap – kaaapooooom, I chose Wrath of the Lich King (OST) for a new reading – magic!

… odd thoughts …

• In the two spreads in which the prince ventures with his mother the rags of the fog create an atmosphere of perfect melancholy – secrecy.
• The prince’s mount, “a bird” has brought memories of World of Warcraft. How can I ever forget the gryphons of the Alliance!
• After the talk with Feather-Horn we have three spreads with so many, but so many details – delicious – that they alone raise the bar of what can be expected. Is the step bigger than the leg? No, it was not.
• Throughout the book one can discover immense references to works of fantasy, just throw the cards and be very careful with the queen of hearts.
• We have Firework Dancers, Pixies and even an owl piper. Ah! And Swan Knights… So much visual detail that each spread should be read-seen-seen-read repeatedly (loop-on mode) so that nothing gets lost – okay?
• I do not know how the collaboration between the artist and the writer was; maybe healthily sick? Watch the first panel of the story; in the anguish of the mushrooms; how much they suffer from the fiddly music of the frogs – brilliant!
• Individualized balloons that make the characters’ voices different.
• The moon red spread is abysmal.

Blue Sparkles is a musical book. Mysterious. A kaleidoscope of text, image and sound. Venetian masks, apple, shoe, Hansel, snow, red hood, crows – explosion. TAM. TAM. TAM.

If I already loved Sissy, the inclusion of crows was a tasty “Nevermooorrre” that made me smile with my mouth open. Dear Poe.

TAM. TAM. TAM. And the drums come to life and set the pace. TAM. TAM. TAM, in the background. Here I go to the end of a love story … Will a good story have an unfortunate end? End. Beginning. Perfidia. Mistake. Con. End of the nightmare, perhaps? Intermezzo and opening of a new chapter with a rainbow that reminds me of the Bifrost bridge, but without the presence of the mighty Heimdall.

TAM. TAM. TAM. Books inside a book and we have a wonderful library, naturally full with books, but equally filled with the tree of knowledge and a cat and a rabbit, too – Alice where are you?

A book that I read quickly, but that should be slowly tasted as a dream of a summer night, right brother Oberon?

Here are my loose and incoherent thoughts. I can do much more with a story full of changes, turns, with the introduction of details and more details and more characters around the corner.

Blue Sparkles with texts by Sissy Pantelis and drawings by Vurore is a mesmerizing book. As hypnotizing as that brown butterfly that flies through the book spying the unfolding of the story

“Are beauty and love not the most powerful magic?” – yes and also good books.