Review Detail

THE PAPER KINGDOM is a sweet picture book about familial love and imagination. When his babysitter cannot come, Daniel must accompany his parents to their night job of cleaning a building. To make it more fun for him, his parents tell him about the Paper Kingdom where they must clean, ruled by the King and Queen and the many dragons there who make messes.

What I loved: The book ultimately conveys messages of love and kindness- as well as to clean up your own messes. Daniel's parents are very loving and work hard at their jobs, while also keeping him entertained and building his imagination. Daniel dreams of the day he can be King and tell the dragons to clean up after themselves- with the reminder from his parents that the dragons work hard too, so you must be kind.

The book is even more touching with the author's note about her childhood that inspired the story. The love of the parents for their son shines throughout the book, and this message is beautiful. The clever stories they tell are full of their love for their son and the kindness they have towards others.

The illustrations are really fantastic and covey the story beautifully, with plenty of color and details. This picture book does have a pretty good amount of text, which makes it suited to elementary school-aged readers or older preschoolers.

Final verdict: Heartfelt and clever, THE PAPER KINGDOM is a sweet book about imagination, kindness, and love. I would recommend for the elementary school-aged crowd who enjoy creativity, family, and lovely illustrations.