Customer Reviews

Cassandra's Angel

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Cassandra's Angel is the touching and inspiring story of a child who truly wants to please - as most children do - but is constantly being given the message that she just can't do anything right.

Cassandra is truly everything that a little girl should be: delightful, beautiful, inquisitive, creative, intelligent, and imaginative. However, Cassandra doesn't know that. She thinks of herself as a child who just can't do anything right, because the adults in her life (who are suppose to know these things) keep sending her that message by the way they speak to her.

When her room needed to be picked up, her mother said that Cassandra was a messy girl. Cassandra stored that message in her mind...she was a messy girl.

When her art teacher told her to paint a picture of a house and a tree with seven red flowers and one yellow bee, she started by painting a magnificent tree that took all the room - none was left for the bee. Her little painting took on a life of its own and colorful images began to flow onto the canvas, as she became lost in her own imagination. Instead of admiring the beauty, talent, and self- statement of Cassandra's painting, her teacher scolded her and said she was incorrigible. Cassandra stored that message in her mind...she was incorrigible.

As this story unfolds Cassandra finds comfort, and learns a special secret about herself, from an unexpected source - her very own Angel! A truly beautiful one too! One who comes complete with everything a little girl thinks of when she thinks of angels: lovely soft wings, a golden crown, and a brilliant wondrous light. And what was the secret? It was the truth - the truth of what Cassandra really was.

This beautifully illustrated book, and the lessons found within its pages, will affect change and inspire parents and children everywhere. Perhaps the next time you speak to your child, you will speak as if the very Angels were listening.

Reviewed by Ruth Wilson

"All of the people who tell stories to you, they each have the truth deep inside of them, too. They have just forgotten it over the years, so now what you hear is their sadness and fears. It isn't their fault, all those stories they tell. They believed the stories they were given as well. Those old kinds of stories create guilt and fear, but today, Cassandra, those old stories stop here." -From the book

Each one of us lives a personal mythology that is created from the stories we have been told as children. These "stories" are the beliefs, attitudes, assumptions, and labels that were bestowed upon us by parents, teachers, and peers. Eventually replacing "you" with "I", we began to believe what others told us about our looks, intelligence, and behavior. Unfortunately, negative and demeaning stories impacted our life and delivered crushing blows to our fragile sense of self-whether we realized it or not.

Written by Gina Otto, Cassandra's Angel is a powerful tale that shows how stories of shame, fear, rejection, and indifference affect a little girl named Cassandra. Through an encounter with an angel that has accompanied her since before birth, Cassandra realizes that she doesn't have to accept the stories she has been told by her scolding mother, uptight teacher, rejecting peers, or the dismissive mayor. Rather, she could choose to believe that she was a bright light in the world-and that no one could change that story! The angel tells her:

"All of those things people have said to you, they are stories, Cassandra-not one of them true. You are never just what they believe you to be. You are even more than you think that you see."

Cassandra's Angel is a compelling book that encourages personal empowerment, self esteem, and the honoring of children. Coupled with the wisdom of author Gina Otto, the vibrant, whimsical, color-saturated images painted by artist Trudy Joost expresses a wide range of emotional experience-including the power of realizing that we can always choose a different story to believe.

Note: This book was a finalist in the Coalition of Visionary Resources, Best Children's Book 2002 and won first place in the Colorado Independent Publishers EVVY Award in the same year.

Cassandra's Angel is a powerful picturebook. Written in lyrical rhyme by Gina Otto and strikingly illustrated by Trudy Joost in full color, it tells the story of Cassandra, a young girl who is constantly being told by adults that she can't do anything right. But after she endures repeated verbal assaults that wear down her spirit, her very own angel visits her and gives her a new perspective on herself and others. Cassandra's Angel is a truly wondrous and uplifting story which is very highly recommended for both children and adults.

This book is absolutely amazing!!! The pictures are gorgeous, and the story a VERY important one!

I actually purchased this book for myself (I don't have any children), after reading the reviews written about it. And I must say that I am so glad I did - as it's just as important for adults to read as kids!

This is about a little girl who keeps hearing negative things about who & what she is by various people in her life - her mother, teacher & peers. Yet, through it all, she doesn't want to believe it - and keeps trying to be a good little girl.

By the end, she's not sure what to believe, and that's when her guardian angel appears. She explains that the other's are just repeating the stories they were told, when they were also just a few years old.

These stories are ones that create guilt & fear, but that can all change if those stories stop here. She can now tell stories of truth & of love & let people know that they were made special from above.

Overall, this is one of those books that has an important message for both children & adults, and I HIGHLY recommend it to EVERYONE!!!

Cassandra wants nothing more than to do everything right, in order to please both her Mother, and the other adults and children that surround her in her everyday life. However, Cassandra is still just a child, and it's hard to be perfect when you're young. CASSANDRA'S ANGEL follows Cassandra through her everyday life. From being told to clean her room because she is a messy girl, to not being accepted in a game with the other children, because her hair is too brown, and her eyes are too blue. Everything about Cassandra is wrong, which makes her extremely sad, until Cassandra's very own angel, a beautiful woman with wings, and a crown, and long flowing hair, comes along and proves to Cassandra that she is a wonderful girl, who can do many special things, and is wonderful in her own ways.

CASSANDRA'S ANGEL is a beautiful book that will be cherished by children and adults for years, and years to come. The wonderfully lyrical, rhyming prose, is written beautifully, and will be easily understood by children, while enjoyed by parents as well; and the air brush and acrylic illustrations are remarkably exquisite, drawing the reader deeper into the story of Cassandra. While the story is adorable in it's own way, it also teaches a lesson to adults: children take things that you tell them seriously; and children: not everything that people say to you is true, you have to believe in yourself. Overall this was a wonderfully crafted story that will capture the hearts of readers both young and old.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle

Cassandra's Angel has a secvret to share, one that will inspire children of all ages as they join the world of this little girl who can't seem to do anything right--or so the story goes. vibrant and compelling book that helps children discover the truth of who they really are.

I met this author before I read the book- it was still in rough form and was about to have its final form decided upon. I found the final form wondrous. It is a story for children both young and old to help work out dilemmas we all face as children and so seldom given a chance to work out.

I've been a fan of this book for ages. Every time I read it I get reminded how important it is to believe in yourself and remember that we are each special and unique. I give this book to all my friends for their children, and the feedback is always heartwarming to hear how the kids responded. That said, the mother and/or father usually read it first and had a good cry ;)... It's just a beautiful story that says so much of what we all need to continually hear.

Cassandra's Angel is so much more than a children's book. It is a touching tale that eloquently addresses one of the core conflicts inherent in all of us--the desire to be loved. Looking through the eyes of an innocent child, this book makes our struggle easily illuminated and offers a brilliant resolution to the issue.

What a great book for young and old alike. We forget the impact "words" have had on our sense of self worth and confidence. This book is a reminder to provide our girls with dreams for the future so they realize that they can be what ever they want and do what ever they want. It is my favorite book to give to new mother's of baby girls.