''Amy's Eyes'' is a children's fantasy novel by Richard Kennedy, published by

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins, based in New York City. Founded in New York in 1817 by James Harper and his brother John, the company operated as J. & J. Harper until 1833, when ...

in 1985, and illustrated by Richard Egielski.

Plot summary

The narrative begins in an orphanage where Amy inadvertently brings her sailor doll to life. It continues on a ship where he has become captain and she has transformed into a doll herself. The book is principally a coming-of-age tale and a nautical adventure involving pirates and the search for lost treasure. The story contains whimsical elements such as a sailing ship crewed by

Mother Goose Mother Goose is a character that originated in children's fiction, as the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. She also appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as ...

animals, but also has darker themes including the obsession with Biblical prophecy and

numerology Numerology (known before the 20th century as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, ...

Reception

The book won the Parents' Choice Picture Book Award in 1985 and was the subject of a major review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. The

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

described it as "a treasure hunt of true and false clues and intriguing puzzles, and reads like a breeze".

References

External links

Book review: ''Amy's Eyes'' by Richard Kennedy
– ''Scattered Pages'' essay on rereading the book as an adult Literature {{Portal , Children's literature 1985 American novels 1985 children's books 1985 fantasy novels American fantasy novels Children's fantasy novels American children's novels Novels about orphans Novels set on ships Novels about sentient toys Books illustrated by Richard Egielski Harper & Row books Children's books set on ships