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Ramon loves drawing but he is devastated when his older brother says ‘What is that?’ about his picture of a vase of flowers. His self-confidence shattered, Ramon decides to give up drawing. However, Ramon’s little sister, Marisol has made a gallery in her bedroom from his discarded drawings. Pointing to the flower vase picture she says, ‘… it looks vase-ish!’ Ramon then feels ‘light and energized. Thinking ish-ly allowed his ideas to flow freely.’  He realises that there is much more to art than getting things just ‘right’.

Reynolds’s minimalist pen-and-ink illustrations contain subtle watercolour washes, that reinforce the devastatingly simple but powerful, and possibly autobiographical, message of the book. A gentle but emotionally stunning tale and a real lesson in believing in one’s own abilities despite others’ reactions.