A strong hero leads an engaging, fairy tale–style narrative—imaginatively told and illustrated.
An intrepid princess meets a good witch, angers a wicked wizard, and finds true love in Kulin’s children’s book.
Hewing to classic fairy-tale tradition, these five eventful, connected stories by a first-time children’s author follow the magical adventures of kindhearted Princess Serena. In the first story, Serena ventures into a “deep dark forest” to find her best friend’s brother, one of many villagers who have mysteriously disappeared there. Because Serena has given her word as a royal to search for him, the king and queen must let her go. The author strikes an enjoyable note of suspense as the forest grows denser and Serena is bedeviled by thorns, brambles, and thick, entangling vines until she stumbles upon a clearing where an old woman is picking mushrooms. The old woman turns out to be a witch, but a good one, bolstering Serena’s courage with a magic necklace, a new “inner name” (Princess Ican), and a butterfly to guide her to the source of the villagers’ disappearances: the house of an evil wizard. Serena’s nightmarish, shape-shifting struggle with the wizard (and his cat) leads to a disturbing change in her character in the third story (while the wizard undergoes a change for the better). In the fourth story, Princess Serena defies her parents to marry a woodsman and leave her royal life; the fifth story, which is somewhat overloaded, involves Serena’s son, a kidnapping, the now-allied witch and wizard, a flying carpet, a giant eagle, drugged apples, and two kingdoms on the verge of war. Themes of honor, courage, and self-determination are effectively highlighted throughout this story collection, which is aimed at a target audience of elementary- and middle school–age children. Refreshingly, Kulin doesn’t effect a complete reversal of the changes Serena and the wizard experience—instead, these changes add new dimensions to both characters. Kids will shiver at the book’s chilling supernatural elements (including the wizard’s method of dispatching the villagers). Keane’s lavish, spot illustrations, rendered in an engaging mix of styles, offer vivid visual interest.
A strong hero leads an engaging, fairy tale–style narrative—imaginatively told and illustrated.Pub Date: March 15, 2025
ISBN: 9798989930432
Page Count: 91
Publisher: Honeyboy Press
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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