A young girl hands her father a small jade pebble to take on his travel along the Silk Road with a request that it be given to a child at the end of the road. Author’s Note, Map Note (9th century/21st century), Useful Websites, Bibliography.

A girl named Mei, who lives near Chang'an, China in 850 CE, longs to travel the Silk Road with her father. Mei cannot join her father on his journey, so, instead, she gives him a jade pebble to give to a child at the end of the road. The pebble is passed from person to person across various cities along the silk road until it finally reaches its destination, a child in Torcello. While this is a story about the history of the Silk Road, it reads more like a fable or fairytale. In her author's note, Christensen mentions that she took inspiration from One Thousand and One Nights when she wrote this book; this shows in both her illustrations and story-telling. I probably wouldn't use this book to teach history in the classroom, but it would be a nice bedtime story. ( )

I enjoyed reading this children's book. Sometimes I don't really enjoy reading historical books because I find them to be slightly boring but I loved the story that this one told. I think that it tells a great story of a journey through all foreign lands and different people. As the story progresses, more treasures are added with Mei's pebble. I think that this story does a nice job of showing different cultures as well as the journey of the pebble. ( )

The theme of this book is connections between people. ( )

Richly detailed and beautifully illustrated historical fiction. ( )