Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
The Knight of Little Import by Hannah Batsel (Carolrhoda Books, September 2023) shares the story of a girl who wants to be a knight, but finds there is not much excitement in the town of Little Import. Since she cannot travel to find dragons to fight, she reads her book of monsters trying to learn
What is your favorite fairy tale? Mine has always been Beauty and the Beast; I loved the Disney movie when it first came out. I’ve always wondered, though, how the Beast became so beast-like so fast and that no one remembered him in that castle! The Beast Within by Serena Valentino (Disney Book Group, July
The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit (published 1907) is a tale of modern magical enchantments. Three children, Gerald (Jerry), Jimmy, and Kathleen (Cathy), stumble upon a large estate that reminds them of a castle; in their play-acting, they stumble upon a sleeping girl they decide must be a princess. Despite her later declaration that she
Mr. King’s Castle by Genevieve Cote (Kids Can Press, 2013) is apparently a second book about a smiley lion named Mr. King. I must now go find the first book! In this book, Mr. King is living in a house on top of a hill, and he decides to make his home larger and more
The Unruly Queen by E.S. Redmond (Candlewick, 2012) is about a spoiled and unpleasant child, who will not listen to her nannies. When her 53rd nanny crowns her queen of Petulant Peak, Minerva is not quite so sure she wants to be queen there and goes about proving to her nanny that she does behave!
The Kiss that Missed by David Melling (Barron’s, 2001) is a clever story about a busy father (a king) that didn’t take the time to slow down: and the bedtime kiss he blew to his young son missed, going out into the wild wood where it met with amusing results for the knight he went
King Jack and the Dragon by Peter Bently and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury (Dial Books, 2011) fits in my self-imposed description of a perfect picture book: the text and the pictures are both required to tell the full story. Jack, Zack, and Jack’s baby brother Caspar are knights fighting dragons, planning to spend all night in their
A Few Blocks by Cybele Young (Groundwood Books, 2011) tells the story of two kids walking a few blocks to school. Walking to school seems like it would be a boring premise, but Ferdie and Viola’s imagination sees them through. Each time the two kids enter their imaginative world, they leave the black-and-white everyday scene behind and
A visit to the beach gets a bit confused in When a Dragon Moves In by Jodi Moore and illustrated by Howard McWilliam (Flashlight Press, 2011). This book is a warning for all those children who make perfect sandcastles, for a dragon is certain to move into it! As the little boy plays in the sand, the dragon
Mudkin by Stephen Gammell (Carolrhoda, April 2011) is an clever book about an imaginary friend, in this case, one that comes from playing in the mud. A little girl discovers a mud creature called Mudkin who invites her to his castle where she will be queen. Although there is little text (Mudkin does not speak English but
I often enjoy the experience of reading a comic novel, and the two I read in the past month were refreshing, original, and fun. Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol Anya tries hard to avoid sticking out at her private high school, but that’s hard to do when she’s awful in gym class and stuck with
The 1985 Caldecott winner is a retelling of a story from Edmund Spencer’s Faerie Queen, Saint George and the Dragon, by Margaret Hodges and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. I’m not familiar with the original story, but this retelling is full of adventure as the brave knight faces the dragon day after day until it is
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