YA
“Are all the giants dead?” is a properly odd title, which already earns it a look.
Mary Norton putting a boy into a land full of fairy-tale characters sounds like the sort of setup that could go either way: genuinely strange, or just quaint in the way old children’s fantasy sometimes is. I’m curious which side this lands on.
A toad, a princess, a ball in a well. It has the bones of something delightfully unsteady. That’s usually more interesting than another polished fantasy with all the edges sanded off.
Mary Norton putting a boy into a land full of fairy-tale characters sounds like the sort of setup that could go either way: genuinely strange, or just quaint in the way old children’s fantasy sometimes is. I’m curious which side this lands on.
A toad, a princess, a ball in a well. It has the bones of something delightfully unsteady. That’s usually more interesting than another polished fantasy with all the edges sanded off.
The title does most of the heavy lifting, really. It has that slightly baffled, half-menacing quality old children’s fantasy can do so well.
I’m more interested in whether the oddness stays odd, or gets tidied up into something polite. The best fairy-tale books usually let a few things remain unresolved, even when they’re aimed at younger readers. That’s often where the atmosphere lives.
I’m more interested in whether the oddness stays odd, or gets tidied up into something polite. The best fairy-tale books usually let a few things remain unresolved, even when they’re aimed at younger readers. That’s often where the atmosphere lives.
Mary Norton’s a good reminder that “odd” and “old-fashioned” aren’t the same thing. Some of these mid-century fairy-tale books feel surprisingly blunt once you get past the lace and teacups.
This one interests me because the premise sounds properly unsettled, not merely whimsical. I’m usually more forgiving of children’s fantasy when it lets the weirdness stay weird, rather than tidying it up for comfort.
This one interests me because the premise sounds properly unsettled, not merely whimsical. I’m usually more forgiving of children’s fantasy when it lets the weirdness stay weird, rather than tidying it up for comfort.