Edmond and the Talent Stone

E. Jane Philipps is a science librarian in the Biology Library at
Queen’s University.

Edmond and the Talent Stone begins with a bang that many, if not all,
children will relate to, as Edmond “wipes out” on his new bike. The
incident provides a starting point for Great-Uncle Rusty’s tale of a
magical talent stone that endows its possessor with any wished-for
skill. The power of the stone extends to one talent at a time and is
diminished each time a new gift is granted. By chance Edmond discovers a
talent stone and becomes in succession an amazing bike rider, a
prodigious pianist and composer, a fabulous French-language poet, and an
expert pilot. Great-Uncle Rusty intervenes when the talent stone has
shrunk to the size of a small bead, and Edmond has the chance to choose
one last talent that he will have for the rest of his life. Edmond
weighs all his recent experiences in the balance and thinks of the many
things in life that require a special skill. He remembers the person he
most enjoys spending time with, his Great-Uncle Rusty, who tells such
wonderful stories. He closes his eyes and makes one final wish. The
closing sentences of the book provide a perfect opening for dreaming and
discussing as Edmond asks, “What talent do you think I wished for?
Which would you have chosen?”

Reese is a professor of elementary education at the University of
Alberta and a storyteller who is clearly in tune with his favorite
audience, children. Related in the first person, Edmond’s story
retains in its telling the freshness and liveliness of an oral
presentation, and is ideal for reading aloud. Full of action and humor,
the narrative includes a multitude of incidents and ideas that children
will immediately identify with. Kucy’s bright, childlike paintings
successfully capture the actions and emotions of the story. Reese has
struck a happy balance between the real and the fabulous. As with his
first book for children, The Money Tree (1977), Reese conveys a message
without ever expressing it overtly. Readers will leave the story with a
new appreciation for the pleasures of communion between the old and the
young and for the value of creativity, the imagination, and the gift of
words.