The Umbrella Queen

The Umbrella Queen
By:  Shirin Yim Bridges
Illustrated by:  Taeeun Yoo
Published by:  Greenwillow Books
Picture Books

                                                               The Umbrella Queen

     The Umbrella Queen is an excellent book because it tells a story that has not already been told. It is something different. Every year in Thailand there is an actual umbrella festival where thousands of umbrellas and lanterns line the streets. This book tells the story of this festival at a smaller scale where the winner of the best umbrella becomes the "Umbrella Queen".
     I do not recognize the author or illustrator of this book, however they wrote a beautiful story and created beautiful, yet simple illustrations. The illustration were created on linoleum prints with pencil. The colors are only variations of blacks, greys, whites, yellows, blues, greens, and oranges. The covers of this book have umbrellas all over them with elephants on them. This does foreshadow the ending of the story.
     The pictures really do make the story more enjoyable and meaningful. It is difficult to live in the United States and picture, authentically, what a Thailand Umbrella Festival would look like. The illustrations help create the imagery. I would love to have this book in my classroom, however, there is nothing that stood out to me that made me think it would help build reading skills.