Six Weeks to Yehidah by Melissa Studdard

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Melissa Studdard’s joyfully written “Six Weeks to Yehidah” takes us into ten-year-old Annalise’s magical dreamscape where thoughts become things and light manifests in sparkling colors that live and breathe and speak.

An inquisitive child by nature, Annalise prefers the woods and fields to staying indoors. So when she finds herself on a grand adventure with sheep that learn how to talk, she is more than ready to explore each new wonder than to worry overly much about the strange and happy world that rises up around her as she skips from cloud to cloud.

While the book is categorized as “young adult,” it might be more suitably labeled as “children’s literature” based on its dialogue and plot. Even so, the book is filled with deeply spiritual symbolism and tongue-in-cheek hero’s journey references that adults will enjoy while reading this well-crafted story to their children.

Like the classics that have come before it, “Six Weeks to Yehidah” will delight readers of all ages, each finding something new in it every time they rediscover Annalise’s story.

—Malcolm