Hello, friends! Our book today is The Secret of the Magic Pearl, written by Elisa Sabatinelli and illustrated by Iacopo Bruno, a stunning chapter book about courage, family, and the sea.

Young Hector lives in a small seaside town in Italy, one that is not particularly noteworthy to the outside world, but to Hector, is the most beautiful in the world. His dream is to become a deep sea diver like his father and grandfather before him, but his dream is interrupted by Amedeo Limonta (“the bad guy in this story”) building the tourist destination Rivadoro nearby and putting the marina where his family operate their tours out of business. Hector knows Limonta seeks a fabled pearl – the purest in the world – and he plans to find the pearl first and discover its secrets. Along the way, he and the other characters will discover more secrets as well: of family, of community, and of the living sea.

Spellbinding. Sabatinelli creates an energetic and guileless voice in Hector, as he describes the settings and unique characters surrounding him with beautiful, evocative language; readers are transported to windswept coastal Italy, witness to small town shenanigans and stormy sea journeys with the turn of each page. Bruno’s illustrations are equally immersive, seamlessly weaving through the chapters with spreads and margin artwork that is sometimes educational, sometimes comical, and always captivating. This chapter book is best for elementary-age and older bookworms, but can easily be read aloud in sections; JJ adored the story, even if it took us a few days to cover it entirely. Overall, this is a longer read that it utterly worth it, and we definitely recommend it. Baby Bookworm approved!

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)