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Catherine (Cat) Ann Russell, moved to action in 2019 to help address the infant and child famine crises in Yemen, wrote and published children’s books to support organized emergency famine and crisis relief efforts at home and abroad through her Basketful Relief Project (www.basketfulreliefproject.com). She has written three children’s picture books: Get to Bed!, The Little Book of Why, and Picco and Wren Three. She also has written a children’s chapter book series, The Pearls of Wisdom Series: Stories inspired by a Biblical Proverb: The Pond of Reflection, The Hyrax Song, and The Zoe-Chai Seed, and publishing soon, The Last Storyteller. In 2002, she started her own digital multimedia company called Spike Productions (www.spikeproductions.com), after a career as a professional research scientist at the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Cat lives in Lyons, Colorado, with her husband, Ed, and several farm animals, including two burros named Nikki and Norma
Reviewed by Ann Linus for Readers' Favorite
In the Mirrorless Kingdom, where the inside-out matters more than the outside-in, and all are considered special by a wise and caring king, all the creatures are content and happy except the king’s daughter. Princess Journee wanted so badly to know who she was, so she asked her father for a mirror as her coming-of-age present. But alas, the king didn’t have a mirror, as there was no mirror in the whole kingdom. In place of the mirror, Journee receives her father’s permission to embark on a self-discovery quest. She quickly makes friends on her journey and learns that the closest thing to a mirror is a rumored pond of reflection. What is she going to learn on this quest? Find out in The Pond of Reflection by Catherine Ann Russell.
The strength of a story about identity should be its characters, and Catherine Ann Russell does not disappoint in The Pond of Reflection. I loved the exotic characters featured in this remarkable adventure—a daring princess mouse, a faithful mighty horse, a witty owl, and the most sensitive toad in La-La Land. These characters were a humorous and entertaining bunch. I also loved the adventurous storyline, enchanting setting, and colorful choice of words. But, most importantly, I loved the moral of this story. Who we are on the inside is more important than who we are on the outside, and “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.”
In this audio version of Catherine Ann Russell’s The Pond of Reflection, the narration by Jeffrey Machado was superb. I was impressed with how well he created each character’s voice, especially the owl’s and the toad’s voices. The audio was clear, smooth, and evenly paced, which added to my enjoyment of the story. The Pond of Reflection is a delightful, entertaining, and impactful read, and I heartily recommend it.
