Nell's Festival of Crisp Winter Glories by Glenda Millard illustrated by Stephen Michael King

"On Sunday morning, Perry Angel chose a pencil from his tin of seventy-two. Its name was Bluephyre and it was the colour of a fairy wren.  Bluephyre was shorter than the other pencils because it was Perry's favourite.  He used it when he and Nell wrote haiku.  But on this morning Perry didn't want Nell to see what he was doing, so he put Bluephyre in his pocket and took it to Annie's studio.  Keeping a secret from Nell was new and strange to Perry. When he was no-one's child, he could not have imagined living with someone you could ask anything of, tell anything to. But Nell was even more than that.  She could read your heart simply by looking into your eyes."

Perry loves Nell so much and he knows she loves to dance. He devises a plan so that Nell and his other most favourite person Jenkins can dance the beautiful Tennessee Waltz.  The whole community begin to make plans for Nell's festival of Crips winter Glories but when Nell has a serious accident it seems Perry's special dream might not come true.

Glenda Millard has done it again.  This is the seventh and final installment in the Kingdom of Silk series and reading it is like looking into a glass filled with sparkling diamonds.

I have already blogged The naming of Tishkin Silk,  Plum Puddings and paper moons, and The Tender Moments of Saffron silk which has just been short listed for the CBCA Younger Readers book of the year awards.

I am a huge fan of the Kingdom of Silk series. Right now, a girl in Grade 6 and her mum are reading them and it is such a joy to see how much they are enjoying these books and also the special bond that comes when two people find a book they both love. I read a lovely quote the other day "people who know and love the same books are you have the road map to your soul."  This is certainly true for me and the glorious Silk series.

My favourite part of this book is when Nell is given a walking aid. It is called "The Intrepid.  It was cherry read with wheels and brakes and a padded eat with a basket underneath.  Nell lifted the seat and looked at the basket. 'That will come in handy for putting vegetables in when I'm out in the garden,' Nell told the physiotherapist. 'And for library books when I'm visiting people at the old folk's home."  When my mum started using a four-wheel seat walker like the one Nell has, I wanted to give it a name, but we never managed to think of one.  I think 'The Intrepid' is such a perfect name - hopefully encouraging the older person to continue a life of adventure and surprises.

Having read the final book in this series I am now going to sit down and start all over again.  It is a rare thing for me to re-read books and it is also a rare thing for me to read every book in a series, but I have adored every one of these books and am so happy I can revisit them in my school library over and over again.