Princess Sophia's Gifts

By Diane Hovey

At its essence, Princess Sophia's Gifts is a true story of a family's survival in the wake of personal tragedy. Written as a fairy tale, the story provides a way to examine the gifts or personal... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0981906400
• ISBN13: 9780981906409
• Release Date: November 2008
• Publisher: Aheartt Pubns
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.8" x 0.5" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 3 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

Princess Sophia's Gifts

This was a beautiful, sweet, and very touching book. The idea of dealing with a tragedy like this by writing a book based on what happened is very moving.

Princess Sophia's Gifts

A family's true-life tragedy is retold as a fairy tale that teaches compassion and acceptance in Diane Hovey's wisdom book, Princesss Sophia's Gifts. Princess Sophia is the fictional persona of Sonia, a healthy toddler who was declared clinically dead after a tragic accident. The story takes the Princess to a netherworld where spirit guides gift her with strengths she will need in her return to life with a severe disability. Readers will be moved by the family's story and charmed by the beautiful illustrations that take us from Princess Sophia's infancy to her emergence as a young woman who loves life, despite her circumstances as a quadraplegic with no verbal skills. This book is a MUST READ for families with any disabled members; but it is provides hope and strength for anyone suffering loss and learning to move beyond paralyzing grief.

Memorable and moving.......

My children are 21 and on their own. When they were small, we would read together. I have always loved to read aloud. I have kept some of the many books that were favorites of ours. In my now empty nest moments, I pull these favorites off the shelf, reading them time and again, remembering the kids' faces as we moved through the favored stories that made us think out loud about life and "stuff". I am always happy to find a book that I can add to the family collection. I look for books that offer meaning to our often too busy lives. I search for books that all generations can grab meaning from. Princess Sophia's Gift is such a book. It is now in my bookcase and already showing signs of wear. I will be reading this book at our multi-generational extended family Christmas Eve celebration. I cannot wait to give copies to our two children, nieces, and nephews.

5 Stars for Beautiful Illustrations; 4.5 Stars for Gentle, Inspirational Story Suitable for the Whol

I wholeheartedly recommend this lovely picture story book and its modern fairy tale that will cheer the hearts of its readers, especially the hearts of the parents, siblings, and loved ones of those with disabilities--as well as disabled children and adults themselves. An older, rawer tradition of fairy tales included acts that brought great harm and injuries to its heroines/heroes--such as the Armless Maiden or the sightless wandering Prince or the comatose Beauty or the Beast Prince. But often, in tales, there are magical restorations of the lost body parts or healing of the curses. This tale set in a happy fairy-tale kingdom depicts a lovely ruling family of which Princess Sophia is the youngest and most cheerful of all. We move from the happy status quo to tragedy, and then to a spiritual encounter and its consequences, and then to a kingdom-wide quest. Lastly, as in so many classic tales, we reach the final realization, the wisdom, the "moral." The story's weight comes from the author who speaks from a place of personal experience: Diane Hovey's own child went through the suffering that little Princess Sophia did, and like the fictional princess, came out of her choking incident with disabilities that could not suppress her natural exuberance and beauty. To be fully honest, this is not a perfect telling: The one very obvious flaw in how the tale is told--and the reason why this is not a double-five-star review, but a 1/2 star is taken away from the story--is that once Princess Sophia is, like other fairy story princesses, gifted in special ways, we do not see these special attributes/gifts used during the quest. In order to understand the purpose of the spiritual gifting, we need to see the Princess interact with those who encounter her as she travels. That would then be punctuated by the meeting with the sage...who brings the climactic epiphany forth. The artwork, though, gets a full five stars. I'd give it 10 stars if I could. I've followed the art of Sara Butcher for a couple years now (and became so enamored of it that I commissioned a piece of watercolor art from her two years ago), and I can testify that her ability to capture spirituality in a fantasy setting is brilliant and utterly captivating. There is grace. There is illumination that seems magical and filled with cheer. There is gorgeousness in the depiction of women with flowing hair. I very much appreciate how Sara incorporates different ethnic types in the tale--not just the usual Northern Euro types we have seen over and over; you know, those illustrations of fantasy tales in picture books we grew up reading. Princess Sophia is fair and flaxen-haired as a young child, but we see all colors of hair, and we see one lovely figure in Native American appearance and garb, another in African appearance and garb, another with Indian (as in India) garb and darker hair, another with mahogany-red hair who reminds me of lovely Irish maidens of myth. The variety adds an accessbilit

Truly beautiful!!!

"Princess Sophia's Gifts" is the most moving children's book I have ever read. The beautiful story and gorgeous illustrations come together powerfully in this incredible tribute to a special young woman and her amazing family. It touched my soul. I wish for everyone I love to have the opportunity to enter Princess Sophia's kingdom again and again and again!