Ten-year-old Rosa Mandolini lives with her extended family at their studio. Nearly all of her family members are artists who create illuminations: magical artworks that bestow a spell where they are mounted, whether that is keeping mice out of a pantry or purifying the city's water. Rosa dreams of becoming an illuminator herself someday, though she's not quite there yet. While searching the basement for a stuffed armadillo, she comes across a mysterious box with a powerful illumination on the lid, one that makes her want to stay away from the box. What is the mysterious box hiding, and can she figure out how to open it?

Another delightful Kingfisher story. This one I would class as juvenile fiction, since both the age of the main character and the subject matter are suited to all ages. I got strong Magicians of Caprona vibes from the setting and characters. I did feel like the pacing dragged a bit in the middle, but since I listened to the audiobook, this may just have been a result of my fragmented listening time and not the book itself. Fans of this author, and especially those of her juvenile works, will want to check this one out. ( )

Eleven year old Rosa Mandolini is bored when she discovers a magical box, protected by a painted crow, in the basement of her family’s studio. She is determined to find a way to open the box -- only to discover there was a good reason it was magically protected.

I really enjoyed this as a story about being on the edge of childhood (especially of being the only child in a family of adults) and as a story about a family of artists.

“That’s one of the hardest parts of being an artist, you know—learning to be patient with yourself when you’re not as good as you want to be.”

( )

Delightful -- I love the weirdnesses, always -- fanged broccoli, talking crows, murderous vegetation -- it's a cracking good time. ( )

Rosa Mandolini is the youngest of a family of painters of magical illuminations. When a malicious creature is released from long captivity and starts wrecking havoc in the studio, she needs to find out how to recapture it. I loved Rosa's ingenuity, the talking crow, and her charming family. Lovely book, very Diana Wynne Jones-ish. ( )