Blue Stone: A Journey Through Life Book

From internationally renowned author and illustrator Jimmy Liao comes a new enchanting and evocative journey.Breathtaking illustrations and a haunting story take readers on a wondrous voyage around the world.


A large, beautiful blue stone is discovered in a forest. It is cut in half, and one half stays in the forest while the other starts on a long and mystical journey through many places, many owners, and many transformations. It begins as a statue of an elephant, admired by museum goers, and then becomes a carved bird residing in an elderly woman's garden. It becomes a moon, a cat, a necklace, and more, until it finally returns to the forest. The Blue Stone is a powerful tale of different life paths and possibilities, a longing for home, and love.

Children's Literature

AGERANGE: Ages 3 to 7.

This is a quiet book which gives the reader a sense of peace imparted through the illustrations as well as the text. The large blue stone lies in the forest for ages and people love to come and admire the beauty of the stone. They decide they want to take the stone and so they break it in half. Here is where the story line is a bit confusing, as it would appear they are taking the entire stone. But it seems that they only take half and that half is made into many things. Nonetheless, the stone is realized as a character and readers, young and old, will accept it as such. The stone goes through many transformations, always longing to return to the forest. It is shaped into an elephant, a bird, the moon, a cat, and even a heart-shaped pendant for a young girl before it is finally small enough to drift across the ocean. The stone, although taking many shapes, is still the same stone no matter the alterations. Reviewer: Carolyn Mott Ford