5.
Author(s): Gene Showalter
Title: Fever The Darkest Night
Publication: Kindle
Pages:
Genre: Supernatural Romance
Acquisition: purchased after reading Ellie's review
Date Completed: January 8, 2011
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Ah, just the kind of brain-candy I was looking for. The premise is no more ridiculous than Sherilyn Kenyon or Lara Adrian, and the results are just as satisfying. A previous review suggested that there is no real chemistry between the protagonists, and I'm inclined to agree; Showalter gives little to support the "instant attractions" that drive the plot, and all that happens beyond the hot-and-steamy is grossly underdeveloped. However, I'm in it for the ride and not the depth, so the book itself was exactly what I hoped it would be.

4.
Author(s): Laurie Halse Anderson
Title: Fever 1793
Publication: Paperback
Pages: 251
Genre: YA Historical Fiction
Acquisition: Teaching text, 8th grade language arts
Date Completed: January 7, 2011
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

When I read a novel or text for work I am usually pretty strict with myself in terms of remaining on the same schedule as my students; I like the ideas to be as fresh for me as they are for them, and since I teach five very different classes (with about 90 students) each semester, this can become doubly important. However, with Fever 1793 I simply couldn't stop.

I started out well, and read only the first eight chapters I had assigned to my 8th-grader. However, when I picked up the novel today to prepare next week's work I simply couldn't help myself - I just had to finish.

Fever 1793 is an historical novel narrated by Matilda Cook, a fourteen-year-old girl, as she witnesses and experiences first-hand the disaster that is the 1793 outbreak of yellow fever in Philadelphia. The plot itself is gripping, and speaks greatly to the reader's emotions while maintaining an eye for historical detail and relevance. Each chapter begins with an excerpt from an 18th-century text that will help young readers put Mattie' life in context, and likewise increases their understanding of what makes her life so extraordinary. Fever 1793 treats everything from social classes, slavery, respectability, gender roles, occupation, education, and politics, to plain human decency and the strength of the individual spirit, and is sure to catch the imagination of a wide range of readers.

3.
Author(s): Madelyn Alt
Title: Home for a Spell
Publication: Kindle Edition
Pages: 304
Genre: cozy mystery
Acquisition: I literally have no idea. I must have preordered it, because I found it on my Kindle last night.
Date Completed: January 6, 2011
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Maggie is still bound by the restrictions of her broken ankle, and her constant uncertainties about her personal relationships. When she discovers that Marcus may be putting off going back to college in order to take care of her (and that her best friend will be moving from the apartment house where they both live), she decides to be proactive and looks for a ground-floor apartment that will give her - and her boyfriend - more independence and autonomy. Sure, the manager of the "perfect" apartment is a huge skeeze, but one can't let the eebie jeebies get in the way of a great deal.

Of course, the body does put a damper on things.

Home for a Spell is easily the best book in the story so far. Alt balances Maggie's personal life with her magnetic attraction to all of the trouble in her neighborhood, and manages to develop both character relations and a mystery (a balance missing from previous books). If this book is any indicator I'd say that things are starting to look good for the next book or two.

2.
Author(s): Dan Wells
Title: Mr. Monster
Publication: Paperback
Pages: 287
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Acquisition: Christmas Gift
Date Completed: January 4, 2011
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

John killed a man, but his mother is the only one who knows. Following the sudden disappearance of the Clayton Killer the community is trying to put itself back together, and John and his small broken family are trying to find a balance that will let them live in relative peace.

Two things work to disrupt that peace: Agent Forman of the FBI, who's still around ... and the appearance of the mutilated body of a young woman. Once again the town is terrorized by violence it can't understand, and John finds himself struggling with his intentions as he's drawn to the case by ever fiber of his being.

Mr. Monster is another fantastic thriller; readers are treated to further development of the character of John, the self-acknowledged teenage sociopath, and watch with anticipation as he struggles with the desires of Mr. Monster, and the rules that he has cluttering his mirror. While I felt like the concluding elements of the first novel were a bit of a cheap device to put a bow on the story, similar elements are utilized much more effectively in the current novel, nicely blending the fantastic and the realistic. Readers who enjoyed I am not a Serial Killer will very likely enjoy Mr. Monster.

1.
Author(s): Dr. Michele Hakakha (OB/GYN) and Dr. Ari Brown (pediatrician)
Title: Expecting 411:The Insiders Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth
Publication: Paperback
Pages: 653
Genre: Pregnancy Reference
Acquisition:
Date Completed: January 1, 2011
Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Expecting 411 by Doctors Hakakha and Brown is decently balanced in most areas, and is certainly preferable to the complete rubbish that is the fear-mongering What to Expect When You're Expecting, but it is still far, far from ideal as a maternity reference.

What the expectant American mother needs to realize: American obstetrics are extremely, extremely conservative. What is presented to American mothers as completely necessary for any chance of a successful pregnancy would be reserved for only high-risk pregnancies in other developed countries like England, France, and Germany. Likewise, there is a very large rift (and permeating prejudice) between obstetricians and midwives, natural childbirth and medically-controlled childbirth. And for every professional opinion a mother will find she will find twenty more personal opinions just waiting to barrage the unsuspecting mom-to-be.

As a general reference, Expecting 411 is actually fairly useful. There's enough of a narrative to read it cover to cover (which I did), but it is well organized, and could easily be used just to answer questions as they come up. There are handy charts for nutrition, explanations of medical procedures, and real-life advice when the doctors hang up their coats and write as mothers.

The "problems" with the text are the same problems that nearly any medically-partial maternity text is going to have: it presents only the most conservative opinions and advice. In my personal experience, much of this advice is only shared in person by older practitioners, while younger doctors are taking a more laid-back approach and recognizing successful practices in other first-world countries. Sometimes the organization of the material can be purposefully misleading; for example, when discussing the always hot issue of circumcision. On pages 272 and 273 the doctors provide nice lists of reasons for and against circumcision - five FOR and three AGAINST. However, the authors fail to acknowledge the source of the research for circumcision: for example, the research that suggests circumcision reduces the risk of HIV has only been conducted in rural Africa, and the actual research indicates several other lifestyle and cultural factors which are highly unlikely to impact a young man growing up in the US. In small print at the end of the article the authors acknowledge that "[c]ircumcisions are done more for social, cultural, and religious reasons than for medical necessity" (276), but by the time this comes about they've already done their best to scare a mother into making a particular decision. (Heh, I guess you can tell where I stand on the issue.)

And then I get nitpicky over small lifestyle "suggestions" offered by the book. Because, of course, all pregnant women simply can't wait to lounge around in "granny panties" (one of the "best buys" for pregnant women, according to the authors) and stretchy yoga pants. I'm probably in the minority here, but I don't think "maternity" has to equal "frumpy," and I'm constantly frustrated by limited maternal options. Through all forty weeks I continue to wear the same panties I have always preferred, I wear heels nearly everyday, and I have no desire to hide my belly under huge pants panels and tent-like maternity shirts. We can call this last response a reaction to the trouble I've had this week finding pants that actually fit, but there you have it.

Like most expectant mothers, I could go on and on and on - especially as I'm sitting in my third round of this happy madness. So here's the bottom line: if you're looking for a medically-partial maternity text, Expecting 411 is one of your better options. But if you're going to try just one of the "411" books, I would recommend opting for Baby 411 - especially for first-time mothers.

List of Books Read in 2010 - By Rating

Unrated for varying reasons
A Treatise of Witchcraft by Alexander Roberts. 5.18.10
Working IX to V by Vicki Leon. 6.10.10.

*******
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. 5.13.10.

******
Still Life by Louise Penny. 7.28.10.

*****
Pig Tale by Verlyn Flieger. 1.15.10.
Cockatiels at Seven by Donna Andrews. 1.30.10
Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews. 2.1.10
Oedipus the King by Sophocles and Dudley Fitts. 2.14.10.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. 3.7.10.
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare. 4.8.10.
Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs. 4.11.10.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. 4.22.10.
Changeless by Gail Carrige. 5.2.10.
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. 5.4.10.
Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl. 5.7.10.
I am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells. 6.13.10.
Mine-Haha, or On the Bodily Education of Young Girls by Frank Wedekind. 7.6.10.
The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. 8.6.10.
A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny. 8.12.10.
Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks by Ethan Gilsdorf. 9.13.10.
A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny. 9.27.10.
Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac. 11.21.20.
I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett. 11.21.10.
Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson. 12.6.10.
Raising Demons by Shirley Jackson. 12.11.10.
The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson. 12.19.10.

****1/2
One for the Money by Janet Evanovich. 3.27.10.
Shit My Dad Says by Justin Halpern. 5.7.10.
Built of Books by Thomas Wright. 6.10.10.
The Trouble with Magic by Madlyn Alt. 7.5.10.
Stork Raving Mad by Donna Andrews. 7.18.10.
Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman. 9.2.10.
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny. 9.3.10.
Blameless by Gail Carriger. 9.17.10.
The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny. 10.14.10.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. 12.2.10
Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. 12.13.10.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs. 12.12.10.
Pale Demon by Kim Harrison. 12.29.10.

****
Poetic Lives: Coleridge by Daniel Hahn. 1.13.10.
Naptime is the New Happy Hour by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor. 1.25.10.
Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett. 2.10.10.
Soulless by Gail Carriger. 2.13.10.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. 2.16.10.
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips. 3.17.10.
The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong. 3.18.10.
A History of the Wife by Marilyn Yalom. 4.17.10.
Two for the Dought by Janet Evanovich. 5.12.10.
Poison by Sara Poole. 5.29.10.
Bedlam: London and Its Damned by Catharine Arnold. 7.2.10.
Swan for the Money by Donna Andrews. 7.17.10.
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman. 8.1.10.
Waking the Witch by Kelley Armstrong. 8.8.10.
The Critic as Artist by Oscar Wilde. 8.21.10.
The Unknowns: A Mystery by Benedict Carey. 9.10.10.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. 9.29.10.
After the Holocaust by Howard Greenfeld. 10.07.10.
The Damned by Algernon Blackwood. 10.23.10.

***1/2
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. 1.13.10.
'D' is for Deadbeat by Sue Grafton. 1.18.10.
'E' is for Evidence by Sue Grafton. 1.20.10.
Revelations by Melissa De La Cruz. 3.28.10.
Shades of Midnight by Lara Adrian. 4.24.10.
Tales of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong. 4.28.10.
The Unadulterated Cat by Terry Pratchett. 7.19.10.
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey. 8.23.10.
Taken by Midnight by Lara Adrian. 9.30.10.
Magyk by Angie Sage. 12.5.10.
Where There's a Witch by Madelyn Alt. 12.18.10.
A Witch in Time by Madelyn Alt. 12.19.10.
Secondhand Spirits by Juliet Blackwell. 12.23.10.

***
'C' is for Corpse by Sue Grafton. 1.3.10.
The Penguin Who Knew Too Much by Donna Andrews. 1.4.10.
Murder is Binding by Lorna Barrett. 2.28.10.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke. 3.11.10.
How to Wash a Cat by Rebecca M. Hale. 3.25.10.
One Silent Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon. 3.31.10.
Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison. 5.22.10.
Bullet by Laurell K. Hamilton. 6.4.10.
Embraced by Darkness by Keri Arthur. 6.8.10.
The Book of the Courtesans: A Catalogue of Their Virtues by Susan Griffin. 6.19.10.
The Elfish Gene: Dungeons, Dragons and Growing Up Strange by Mark Barrowcliffe. 7.15.10.
A Charmed Death by Madelyn Alt. 7.22.10.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. 8.16.10.
Governess by Ruth Brandon. 9.13.10.
Swan Lake by Patrick Kill. 10.1.10.
Hex Marks the Spot by Madelyn Alt. 11.8.10.

**1/2
Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare by Darren Shan. 1.16.10.
Flirt by Laurell K. Hamilton. 2.5.10.
Medea by Euripides. 10.16.10.
No Rest for the Wiccan by Madelyn Alt. 12.16.10.

**
Once Bitten by Kalayna Price. 1.27.10.
Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris. 2.17.10.
Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris. 5.14.10.
Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman. 7.9.10.
Mad Kings & Queens: History's Most Famous Raving Royals by Alison Rattle and Allison Vale. 8.21.10
Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins. 11.13.10.

*
Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb. 6.22.10.

List of Books Read in 2010 - By Date

1. 'C' is for Corpse by Sue Grafton. 1.3.10. ***
2. The Penguin Who Knew Too Much by Donna Andrews. 1.4.10. ***
3. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. 1.13.10. ***1/2
4. Poetic Lives: Coleridge by Daniel Hahn. 1.13.10. ****
5. Pig Tale by Verlyn Flieger. 1.15.10. *****
6. Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare by Darren Shan. 1.16.10. **1/2
7. 'D' is for Deadbeat by Sue Grafton. 1.18.10. ***1/3
8. 'E' is for Evidence by Sue Grafton. 1.20.10. ***1/2
9. Naptime is the New Happy Hour by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor. 1.25.10. ****
10. Once Bitten by Kalayna Price. 1.27.10. **
11. Cockatiels at Seven by Donna Andrews. 1.30.10 *****

12. Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews. 2.1.10 *****
13. Flirt by Laurell K. Hamilton. 2.5.10. **1/2
14. Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett. 2.10.10. ****
15. Soulless by Gail Carriger. 2.13.10. ****
16. Oedipus the King by Sophocles and Dudley Fitts. 2.14.10. *****
17. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. 2.16.10. ****
18. Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris. 2.17.10. **
19. Murder is Binding by Lorna Barrett. 2.28.10. ***

20. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. 3.7.10. *****
21. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke. 3.11.10. ***
22. Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips. 3.17.10. ****
23.The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong. 3.18.10. ****
24. How to Wash a Cat by Rebecca M. Hale. 3.25.10. ***
25. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich. 3.27.10. ****1/2
26. Revelations by Melissa De La Cruz. 3.28.10. ***1/2
27. One Silent Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon. 3.31.10. ***

28. The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare. 4.8.10. *****
29. Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs. 4.11.10. *****
30. A History of the Wife by Marilyn Yalom. 4.17.10. ****
31. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. 4.22.10. *****
32. Shades of Midnight by Lara Adrian. 4.24.10. ***1/2
33. Tales of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong. 4.28.10. ***1/2

34. Changeless by Gail Carrige. 5.2.10. *****
35. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. 5.4.10. *****
36. Shit My Dad Says by Justin Halpern. 5.7.10. ****1/2
37. Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl. 5.7.10. *****
38. Two for the Dought by Janet Evanovich. 5.12.10. ****
39. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. 5.13.10. *******
40. Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris. 5.14.10. **
41. A Treatise of Witchcraft by Alexander Roberts. 5.18.10
42. Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison. 5.22.10. ***
43. Poison by Sara Poole. 5.29.10. ****

44. Bullet by Laurell K. Hamilton. 6.4.10. ***
45. Embraced by Darkness by Keri Arthur. 6.8.10. ***
46. Built of Books by Thomas Wright. 6.10.10. ****1/2
47. Working IX to V by Vicki Leon. 6.10.10.
48. I am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells. 6.13.10. *****
49. The Book of the Courtesans: A Catalogue of Their Virtues by Susan Griffin. 6.19.10. ***
50. Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb. 6.22.10. *

51. Bedlam: London and Its Damned by Catharine Arnold. 7.2.10. ****
52. The Trouble with Magic by Madlyn Alt. 7.5.10. ****1/2
53. Mine-Haha, or On the Bodily Education of Young Girls by Frank Wedekind. 7.6.10. *****
54. Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman. 7.9.10. **
55. The Elfish Gene: Dungeons, Dragons and Growing Up Strange by Mark Barrowcliffe. 7.15.10. ***
56. Swan for the Money by Donna Andrews. 7.17.10. ****
57. Stork Raving Mad by Donna Andrews. 7.18.10. ****1/2
58. The Unadulterated Cat by Terry Pratchett. 7.19.10. ***1/2
59. A Charmed Death by Madelyn Alt. 7.22.10. ***
60. Still Life by Louise Penny. 7.28.10. ******

61. Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman. 8.1.10. ****
62. The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. 8.6.10. *****
63. Waking the Witch by Kelley Armstrong. 8.8.10. ****
64. A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny. 8.12.10. *****
65. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. 8.16.10. ***
66. The Critic as Artist by Oscar Wilde. 8.21.10. ****
67. Mad Kings & Queens: History's Most Famous Raving Royals by Alison Rattle and Allison Vale. 8.21.10. **
68. Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey. 8.23.10. ***1/2

69. Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman. 9.2.10. ****1/2
70. The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny. 9.3.10. ****1/2
71. The Unknowns: A Mystery by Benedict Carey. 9.10.10. ****
72. Oedipus the King by Sophocles and Dudley Fitts. 9.11.10. *****
73. Governess by Ruth Brandon. 9.13.10. ***
74. Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks by Ethan Gilsdorf. 9.13.10. *****
75. Blameless by Gail Carriger. 9.17.10. ****1/2
76. A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny. 9.27.10. *****
77. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. 9.29.10. ****
78. Taken by Midnight by Lara Adrian. 9.30.10. ***1/2

79. Swan Lake by Patrick Kill. 10.1.10. ***
80. After the Holocaust by Howard Greenfeld. 10.07.10. ****
81. The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny. 10.14.10. ****1/2
82. Medea by Euripides. 10.16.10. **1/2
83. The Damned by Algernon Blackwood. 10.23.10. ****
84. Othello by William Shakespeare. 10.28.10. *****

85. Hex Marks the Spot by Madelyn Alt. 11.8.10. ***
86. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins. 11.13.10. **
87. Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac. 11.21.20. *****
88. I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett. 11.21.10. *****

89. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. 12.2.10. ****1/2
90. Magyk by Angie Sage. 12.5.10. ***1/2
91. Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson. 12.6.10. *****
92. Raising Demons by Shirley Jackson. 12.11.10. *****
93. Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. 12.13.10. ****1/2
94. No Rest for the Wiccan by Madelyn Alt. 12.16.10. **1/2
95. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs. 12.12.10. ****1/2
96. Where There's a Witch by Madelyn Alt. 12.18.10. ***1/2
97. A Witch in Time by Madelyn Alt. 12.19.10. ***1/2
98. The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson. 12.19.10. *****
99. Secondhand Spirits by Juliet Blackwell. 12.23.10. ***1/2
100. Pale Demon by Kim Harrison. 12.29.10. ****1/2

100.
Author: Kim Harrison
Title: Pale Demon
Publication: Paperback
Pages: 439 pages
Genre: horror
Acquisition: Early Review Copy
Date Completed: December 29, 2010
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Action, progress, character development, and resolution; Kim Harrison's Pale Demon, due out on February 22 2011, has everything that Black Magic Sanction is lacking, and has redeemed the Hollows series for me. I found the last few books in the series to be stagnant; there was no development or resolution offered, and it seemed to me like Harrison was recycling the same plot and wringing it for all it was worth. However, Pale Demon delivers on the promises of the past couple books, and settles several things once and for all, while still leaving room for future progress.

I would not have purchased Pale Demon after previous disappointments, but I enjoyed it immensely, and feel quite satisfied with where Harrison is heading. Pale Demon is entertaining and satisfying, and proved to be a great comeback.

99.
Author: Juliet Blackwell
Title: Secondhand Spirits
Publication: Kindle
Pages:
Genre: mystery
Acquisition:
Date Completed: December 22, 2010
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

My response to Juliet Blackwell's Secondhand Spritis varied chapter by chapter, and was overall far more positive towards the end than it was in the beginning. Early in the novel the writing is a bit wooden, and seems focused more on explaining contemporary religious practice - with a BIG dollop of the fantastic - than on developing characters or plot. Blackwell claims that she received this information from extensive interviews with active practitioners, and perhaps it may be interesting to some who are not as familiar, but I found her to be a bit contradictory; early in the novel the main character scoffs at anyone who isn't a "natural" witch, favoring a supernatural representation, and therefore passing judgment on the very people who apparently supplied the information.

However, as the novel progressed the story itself took center stage over the lectures, and the narrative became far more interesting. Certain elements of the mystery itself actually took me by surprise, which I appreciated. I think the bumps and bruises I found along the way may smooth out as the series progresses, and I may very well seek out the next installment.

97.
Author: Madelyn Alt
Title: A Witch in Time
Publication: Kindle E-book
Pages:
Genre: cozy mystery
Acquisition:
Date Completed: December 19, 2010
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

To really call A Witch in Time a mystery would be a joke; the "mystery" itself is once again a very minor detail; so much so that Alt and her reader lose track of it for long stretches of time. Instead, the novel focuses on the personal lives of the characters involved, and shows family ties being rewritten and strengthened in some unexpected ways. Honestly, I enjoy the personal relationships of Alt's Bewitching Mysteries far more than the "mystery" elements, so I enjoyed the developments the latest edition presented.

98.
Author: Hans Christian Anderson
Title: The Snow Queen
Publication: Hardback, Everyman publication
Pages: 92
Genre: fairytale
Acquisition: Work Text
Date Completed: December 19, 2010
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen is a beautiful fairy tale intended for young children, presenting a number of adventures in seven parts and just 92 brief pages. The story itself is enchanting, and the Everyman publication includes gorgeous classic illustrations that really set the tone of the work and transport the reader to the correct time and mental space to enjoy the work as it should be. I gifted a copy of this text to a student as part of a unit on holiday folktales, and she (a high school Junior) likewise found the book endearing, and gushed about the illustrations of the book. Recommended for all fans of traditional fairy tales.