The Princess and the Goblin Review

 This review is going to focus on The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald. I read this book for my Children's Literature class in school and before it I had never heard of it. It's apparently part of a series, but again I'd never heard of it before this class. Apparently there is also a movie that I've never seen, but I would like to check it out.

The book follows this little princess named Irene, who lives on a mountain in her house shielded from the Goblins who live in the mountain. Once upon a time, the goblins lived above ground, too, but the king's men drove them underground forcing them to evolve into the monsters they are during this book. As a result of this, the Goblins wanted revenge on the King and his lineage.

The princess Irene was an adventurous soul and she was curious and brave. She is a good protagonist for a child character. I liked that she was persistent and she never broke despite whatever she dealt with.

I liked her friend Curdie. He was smart and resourceful and he sort of reminded me Seth in the Fablehaven series I've reviewed previously. He was bright and curious and he was very quick to help Irene when she fell into trouble.

I like this book because the kids seem to know what to do best and it makes the king's guards look ridiculous because they would not listen when the kids saw that the Goblins were going to kidnap Irene. It makes the children the real heroes. They didn't necessarily need the adults. It was an adventure from start to finish and I couldn't put the book down. I wanted to know what happened. I wanted to know how they would win. 

I liked that this book set rules for their society and universe and followed the rules. I think that the author did an amazing job of keeping to the rules and tying everything together, what with Irene's mysterious grandmother, Curdie's understanding of Goblins and the King's determination to keep his daughter safe. 

This book is interesting and was quite the adventure. I can't believe that I've never heard of this book before. I am glad that I have found this and if you haven't heard of or checked out this story I suggest you do! I would read this to a grade 4-6 class and I think they would love it. This book is a classic and you can find it on most book retailers. 

Read and Enjoy!!!