Illuminations
by T. Kingfisher
Argyll Productions, 2022. 260 pages.
Review written April 17, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review
I need to read more books by T. Kingfisher! I checked this one out because of how thoroughly I enjoyed A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, and then picked it up and got it read after a librarian mentioned T. Kingfisher as one of her favorite authors. I wasn’t quite as big a fan of this one, but it’s got the same flavor of a whole lot of fun in a magical kingdom.
Rosa Mandolini is almost eleven years old, a member of Studio Mandolini, surrounded by artist family members who do the important magical work of illumination.
The Mandolinis painted pictures of radishes with wings to ward off sickness, and they painted great droopy-faced hounds with halos to protect against burglars. They painted flaming swords on shingles to keep storms from blowing the roofs off houses, and they painted very strange pictures of men with hummingbird heads to keep venomous snakes out of people’s gardens.
And every one of these paintings worked, although they would wear out over time. Sometimes the illumination had to be very large. It was no good getting a tiny painting of a blue-eyed cat to keep mice away if you had a barn that was already full of rats. The tiny painting would keep mice out of your pantry, but to keep them out of a barn, you needed a painting six feet high with a blue-eyed cat the size of a tiger.
But one day, when Rosa is bored, she goes searching for a stuffed armadillo model for her uncle in their disorganized storeroom — and discovers a box with an illumination that makes her walk away and forget about it. When she manages to overcome the forgetting about it part, her next challenge is to figure out how to get the box open. When she does, the crow illumination on the box cover comes alive — and something inside the box escapes. The crow informs her that she’s just let loose an evil creature that’s been imprisoned for two hundred years and will proceed to suck the magic out of all of their illuminations.
The crow is absolutely right. And hijinks ensue. Eventually her whole family needs to get in on the act of stopping the evil mandrake root running around the corners of their studio.
It’s all told in a light-hearted way with eccentric characters, a creative magic system, and a kid who wants to not get in trouble — but also contribute to the family.
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/illuminations.html
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