leanne mckinnon

Stella, the little princess of the Village of the Mirror, disappeared years ago. The only hope for the end of her parents’ tears is the water spring in the woods and its mysterious message that no one really understands. One day a little gypsy girl appears, tender and bewildered, with two carefree pigtails and a milky-coffee mark on her cheek. She is the only one with the special gift of being able to speak to the spring. In the magic of its reflections, she comes to know Princess Stella who speaks of the coming of a red star.
The people in the village make fun of the little gypsy, but she has Patapa, the local madman who holds a surprising gift of wisdom in a box that everyone thinks is empty. Then there is Nini, a true friend who loves to fire at the leaves with his slingshot and run in the Field of Wonders. There is also the elderly Hale, who understands the appeal and the danger of the spring and knows that it hides a secret for each of us.

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REVIEWS extracts (from the Italian edition):
A simple, clean prose where extreme care is associated with simplicity. The language, always suited to the world of the small village that the author has created, succeeds in conveying the sense of a rhythm of life that is now alien to us.
Tatiana Azzola, writer

Sweetness, simplicity, a bit of magic and madness. Close your eyes, smile and dream...
Alessia Guglielmi

Extremely evocative landscapes, described with great inventiveness. A well-built story to be fully received by the children, and endowed with that pinch of suspense to be appreciated by an adult reader. The concepts of love and tolerance are passed on to the little ones with delicate elegance, making also the adults reflect on the value of the simple joys and sincere friendship, in opposition to the hypocrisy and the pettiness of the surrounding reality.
Natascia Tiso, University Professor

An experience with the taste of another time, a regretted and sometimes forgotten time.
Flavia Gatto

A book that is magic, that is a fairy tale, a book where one cultivates his dreams, where there are chocolate candies, a sort of wonderland where the reader can come back as a child.
Debora Libardi, book blogger

A bond between fantasy and reality that takes you into a distant world yet so close.
Paola Baldan

A book that is not just words but becomes pictures and emotions, it envelops you and accompanies you.
Laura Canneti

Matteo Astone is a scientist, a clown, a lover of the social circus and volunteer work. He loves it when all of this is put to play and used to educate whether in hospitals, in sheltered homes, in street slums, with children in all parts of the world. Children have taught him to wonder at the little things in life and dream large. He believes in the special power of children’s stories to help us look at the world with new eyes, to talk about important things in a simple way and to touch the hearts of the young and not so young.
Matteo was born in Padua, Italy, in 1987. He currently works in a cancer research center in Austin, Minnesota. Over the years, he has been a volunteer worker in his hometown and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Thailand, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, and the Philippines, taking his red nose and love for children wherever he travels.

He would be delighted to hear from you at: matteo.asto@gmail.com