4One wonderful day, an old peddler arrives in the small village in faraway Thailand where a little girl named Miss Moon lives. He brings a tree with him, fashioned of brightly colored paper flowers. How Miss Moon longs to have such a tree When the old man gives her one of the flowers in parting, she plants its seed--a black bead--and tends it faithfully. Little black beads can't sprout and grow, of course, but Miss Moon's faith is rewarded all the same Filled with the sights and sounds of Thailand, this touching tale is true to childhood the world over. In these pages, Ayer's bold color and expressive illustrations draw us into a world that feels both intriguingly foreign and wonderfully familiar. Jacqueline Ayer was a Jamaican-American, born in New York City in 1930. She began her education at the Art Students League in New York, proceeded by time spent at Syracuse University and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Ayer was a head fashion designer in London for many years and created more than 10 children's books, for which she was awarded a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators.