As the Stone Faces Blog Tour comes to a close I want to take a moment and recap the tour and highlight what reviewers have said about Anne Rothman-Hicks and Kenneth Hicks newest children's book. You can also read my review below.
If you missed any of the tour stops visit the Stone Faces: An Alice and Friends Book tour for a complete list of participating blogs.
If you missed any of the tour stops visit the Stone Faces: An Alice and Friends Book tour for a complete list of participating blogs.
About the Book
Title: Stone Faces: An Alice and Friends Book | Author: Anne Rothman-Hicks and Kenneth Hicks
Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing | Publication Date: July 12, 2016 | Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy Number of Pages: 66
Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing | Publication Date: July 12, 2016 | Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy Number of Pages: 66
Book Description: Stone Faces is the story of a ten-year-old girl named Alice who notices one day that her parents’ faces have turned to stone. Soon afterward, they tell her they are going to get divorced and, in reaction, she allows her own face to turn to stone because she doesn’t want anyone to know how much this hurts her. It is easier to deal with her friends when her stone face is in place, but she also begins to find herself alone more and more. While on her summer vacation at her aunt’s house on Cape Cod, she sees a stone on the beach in the shape of a laughing man’s face (called Mr. Happy Man). She soon discovers that this stone can talk and that it has friends among the other beach stones, who play games in the sand when people aren’t around. Together with Mr. Happy Man and his friends, Alice develops an ingenious scheme to help her parents resolve their differences. Their plans are thrown awry when a woman finds Mr. Happy Man in the sand and walks off with him. Alice decides to rescue the stone and sneaks into the woman’s house where she learns that the woman is actually a witch.
Tour recap...
Promotional posts were shared by:
K&A Children’s Book Reviews
Mother Daughter Book Reviews
Java John Z’s
Book Lover Promo
The Bravest Squirrel
Rebecca Krusee
Untamed Doodler
Book Zone
7 bloggers shared reviews!
Here's what they had to say...
"Stone Faces is a wonderful children's book that addresses the tough topic of divorce in such a way that children will be able to understand and identify with the struggles and emotions Alice faces when her parents separate." - Lizards Laughter & Love
"Stone Faces had good characters, an interesting plot and the story flows well. Children will relate to Alice and her emotions." - Stitch Says
"Great fun characters ten year old readers can relate to." - Kay LaLone
"Stone Faces: An Alice and Friends Book (Volume 1) by Anne Rotham-Hicks and Kenneth Hicks is a children's book that addresses the topic of divorce and complex emotions in a way that can be easily understood and relatable to the young reader." - Oh My Bookness
"I highly recommend Stone Faces for children in grade 3-6. It’s a dual-level tale rich in imaginative fantasy with its frolicking stones while also addressing real struggle with complex family dynamics."
- Cat’s Corner
"Alice thoughts and actions were realistically written in the story, I found the tale cleverly put together and I must admit the ending made me go “ahh . . . “ - 2ReadBook
"I felt the book was written well. It flowed smoothly and kept my interest. It was easy to understand a quite fitting for the age group it was written for." - Rockin’ Book Reviews
My Review
Stone Faces: An Alice and Friends Book takes readers on an emotional journey as they connect with Alice during her struggle to come to terms with her parents separation.
Alice is devastated when she learns that her parents are separating and decides she needs to go on their annual family vacation to Cape Cod by herself. Her parents reluctantly agree and she bids them farewell wearing the same stone cold face she's seen them displaying lately. Once in Cape Cod Alice spends most her time at the beach and one day finds a stone that looks like a laughing man. Alice names him Mr. Happy Man and is surprised when she learns he and the rest of the beach stones can talk. Mr. Happy Man and his friends vow to help Alice, but when an evil witch interferes it's Mr. Happy Man that needs help. Can Alice help Mr. Happy Man and mend the relationship with her parents before it's too late?
Stone Faces: An Alice and Friends Book is well thought out and the story is told in simple terms so young readers will be able to identify with Alice and the emotional turmoil she's facing. The characters are creative and engaging and children will enjoy Mr. Happy Man and his beach buddies.
As a child of divorced parents I understand what Alice feels and how desperately she wants her parents to fix their family. I applaud that authors for the "happily ever after" they chose for the book. It's a realistic ending that shows children they are much stronger than they realize and that things don't always work out they way they hope, but they can still find happiness.
I highly recommend picking up a copy of Stone Faces: An Alice and Friends Book.
Alice is devastated when she learns that her parents are separating and decides she needs to go on their annual family vacation to Cape Cod by herself. Her parents reluctantly agree and she bids them farewell wearing the same stone cold face she's seen them displaying lately. Once in Cape Cod Alice spends most her time at the beach and one day finds a stone that looks like a laughing man. Alice names him Mr. Happy Man and is surprised when she learns he and the rest of the beach stones can talk. Mr. Happy Man and his friends vow to help Alice, but when an evil witch interferes it's Mr. Happy Man that needs help. Can Alice help Mr. Happy Man and mend the relationship with her parents before it's too late?
Stone Faces: An Alice and Friends Book is well thought out and the story is told in simple terms so young readers will be able to identify with Alice and the emotional turmoil she's facing. The characters are creative and engaging and children will enjoy Mr. Happy Man and his beach buddies.
As a child of divorced parents I understand what Alice feels and how desperately she wants her parents to fix their family. I applaud that authors for the "happily ever after" they chose for the book. It's a realistic ending that shows children they are much stronger than they realize and that things don't always work out they way they hope, but they can still find happiness.
I highly recommend picking up a copy of Stone Faces: An Alice and Friends Book.
About the Authors
When Anne Rothman was a student at Bryn Mawr College and Kenneth Hicks was a student at Haverford College, they began writing together in an independent-study course with one of Ken’s professors. A brief interlude ensued while Anne wrote wonderful poetry and Ken wrote a book about hitchhiking (The Complete Hitchhiker Tobey Publishing, Dell Distribution), but they soon got back together as writers when Ken was in law school at Columbia University and Anne was paying the rent by working in publishing. They have continued to write together for about forty years and in that time have published four adult novels, eleven non-fiction books for children, two fiction books for middle readers, and two photography books. They also produced three children whom they love even more than writing.
Between projects, they started a web site www.randh71productions.com. In case you were wondering about the address, “R” is for Rothman, “H” is for Hicks, and “71” is the year of their marriage. No secret codes or numerology anywhere.
Between projects, they started a web site www.randh71productions.com. In case you were wondering about the address, “R” is for Rothman, “H” is for Hicks, and “71” is the year of their marriage. No secret codes or numerology anywhere.
