As a long-time reader of fantasy novels, and as a homeschooling mother with a busy household to run, I have long turned to children's novels as a way to find my allotment of magic and adventure within the span of a naptime or two.
First of all, let me say that this did not disappoint. For a little while at the beginning, I was worried; I really hate books that purport to be about magic but are really about people who can't tell imagination from reality - but this quickly resolved into genuine, full-fledged fantasy.
Surprisingly enough - to me, anyway - my favorite part was not the magic, in this - it was the morality. As an individual, it has become more and more important to me that the basic truths of morality - hurting people is wrong, and helping people is right - should, in some way, be present in the universes I read about. As a parent, I have come to really resent stories in which it is taken for granted that parents are so stupid, uncaring, or selfish that the only reasonable thing to do is lie to, deceive, and avoid them at every turn. While Mull was perhaps a little heavy-handed in his treatment of these points (he's developed a much lighter touch in his Fablehaven series- more about those later) it was so refreshing to read a children's book in which all of the parents seemed like honest, ordinary people that I could have loved it for that alone. All in all, the story was fun enough and the characters intriguing enough that I just plain enjoyed it - and that, at the end of the day, is what makes me call this a good book.
First of all, let me say that this did not disappoint. For a little while at the beginning, I was worried; I really hate books that purport to be about magic but are really about people who can't tell imagination from reality - but this quickly resolved into genuine, full-fledged fantasy.
Surprisingly enough - to me, anyway - my favorite part was not the magic, in this - it was the morality. As an individual, it has become more and more important to me that the basic truths of morality - hurting people is wrong, and helping people is right - should, in some way, be present in the universes I read about. As a parent, I have come to really resent stories in which it is taken for granted that parents are so stupid, uncaring, or selfish that the only reasonable thing to do is lie to, deceive, and avoid them at every turn. While Mull was perhaps a little heavy-handed in his treatment of these points (he's developed a much lighter touch in his Fablehaven series- more about those later) it was so refreshing to read a children's book in which all of the parents seemed like honest, ordinary people that I could have loved it for that alone. All in all, the story was fun enough and the characters intriguing enough that I just plain enjoyed it - and that, at the end of the day, is what makes me call this a good book.
No comments:
Post a Comment