This book is surreal and strange but not in the way that I like. The art is very cool so I wish it had some kind of coherent, meaningful story to go with it. I would definitely chalk this up to translation issues which is just too bad.

I really wanted to love this book because of its beautiful illustrations, but the story wasn't much of a story at all -- just a series of whimsical observations from a little girl's fantasy world. Its whimsy and art would make it more suited to a board book, in my opinion, because kids who are old enough to handle a book with paper pages will be bored and kids young enough to appreciate a hollow story with lovely pictures will obliterate the book.

The illustrations are pretty but this book is so short that there’s nothing to it.

I finished it and thought where’s the rest of it? It’s too short even to read for toddlers.

The idea is nice but it takes less than 30 seconds to read aloud.

Taken in by the colourful cover, I thought I'd give this one a try. It's one of those books with strong illustrations and not very much story. On top of that, the writing isn't great. There's one glaring comma splice at the halfway point that drove me to distraction, and the rest of the text isn't anything special.

The illustrations, however, are beautiful. Using a limited colour palette, Ratanavanh creates a child's fantasy world that includes animals, birds, sea life, and plenty of friendly get-togethers. The addition of some of the elements that look like they're stitched (such as you see on the cover with the title and kite strings) is different and adds a bit more whimsy to the overall look.

I'd recommend this one for the illustrations, but not for the writing. It's a much prettier book to look at than to read.

Una bambina e un'isola speciale, isola del cuore: solo meraviglie vi accadono, solo cose belle vi sono ammesse, in un delicato trionfo di fantasia.

La parte migliore di questo volumetto sono le ariose, raffinate illustrazioni di Seng soun Ratavanh, la cui magnifica arte avevo già potuto ammirare nello spettacolare Time for bed, Miyuki.

Il testo non è però all'altezza della poetica avventura della buonanotte di Miyuki e del nonno; rimangono da ammirare gli splendidi scorci di un'Isola Che Non C'è tutta personale.

This story takes place inside the imagination of a little girl. She pictures a lovely, colourful island where thousands of colourful birds reside. She enjoys the company of the many animal inhabitants, plays games, takes time to read her favourite books, and gathers beautiful flowers. The reader is not forgotten and is invited to join her, only if you know how to dream.

The illustrations are lovely and detailed. They enrich the sparse text. The story is a celebration of being yourself and encourages readers to ignite their imaginations because when you do anything is possible. The story is very short and without the wonderful illustrations would have been flat. I did not think the book was that dynamic. I am not sure how well that age group would connect to it therefore I only gave it 3 Hugs!

The sweeping palette used in the illustrations is a marvel. However, I was left a bit mystified by the text. I assume this is referring to the place of imagination inside a child's mind, but I suppose the myriad interpretations is what the author intended.

The illustrations are lovely but I did not get the point in the story at all! 2 stars only for the illustrations.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing this digital ARC for review.

The illustrations in this picture book are gorgeous and carry the story. The words are brief—maybe even a bit too brief but tell the story of a creative imagination and all it’s capable of providing.

Changes in scale, finely done animals and principally a wonderful eye for patterning in nature and design make the images for this picture book stand out, but the story (such as it is) is a little wanting. It tries to get a full fantasia to convey the necessity of imagination, alongside other positive attributes, but the publisher's descriptor "impactful" is very inaccurate. "Slight" is more the thing. Three stars, and mostly for the artist.

I read this book to my children. It didn’t really capture their interest. I enjoyed it but I will say it read more like a poem than a story. The illustrations were nice and had a nostalgic feeling about them.. It was a decent light read but not something that I’d read again.

Though I really loved the art in this (especially since I'm picking up a renewed interest in embroidery and a lot of the art would really lend itself to such a thing), the text left me kind of cold. It's a very friendly and inviting book, but there's not a lot of plot or action. Might be a good bedtime story.

This is a beautiful book about a little girl and what her very own island would look like. She includes all the great friends and toys she would have. I really loved the illustrations in this story and it is what drew me into this short story.

ARC Copy...Beautiful and surreal illustrations that invoke warm childhood memories and a narrative that highlights the private world of a child within imagination's landscape. The only compliant I have is it's too short in length and the intimate privacy could be seen as "unfriendly".

Short and sweet. A little book littles will enjoy listen to again and again. The illustrations look good on my Kindle, but I'd bet they look even better in color! I can't wait to see a hard copy!

<i>My Island</i> by Stephanie Demasse-Pottier and Seng Soun Ratanavanh is the sort of book that will really capture a kid's attention if they're into pictures and images. Since, typically, that's most children I can definitely see this book being a success to an extent. It's very pretty and colorful, filled with a multitude of exciting animals and definitely gives you a really good picture into the mind of the young girl telling you about her island. You really get the feeling that this is a place she has created rather than one that actually exists.

I loved the artwork in this book, finding it incredibly well done and exciting to see. Each page was bright and beautiful and I really enjoyed seeing all the pieces of this young girl's imagination. The only problem with this book is the fact that I don't quite understand its purpose. Barring showing off that this girl has an imagination and potentially building ideas for a kid, this book really doesn't <i>teach</i> anything. And while I don't think that every single book should teach something, I'm always somewhat disappointed in the children's books that don't.

<i>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. </i>

First, Seng Soun Ratanavanh's illustrations are absolutely gorgeous- I would buy this book for the art alone! The story......well, it means well. My take is it's about having imagination and creating a world in your imagination where you can do anything, and you can invite others to your world or enjoy it alone (or with the friends you have there). The idea is lovely, but it could use a bit more to it, the text is very sparse. The illustration gets 5 stars from me, the story 2 stars, so an average of 3.5 stars. I always round up, though!

2 stars!

Thank you to Netgalley for this Arc Preview.

I think this was supposed to be an inspirational book about being yourself- and doing your own thing... but it was a little bland. I thought the illustrations were the best part of the book. It was way too short with an unclear plot. I was not very impressed and honestly did not think it was that great.