Book Review: A Book of Dwarfs

Written by Ruth Manning-Sanders and illustrated by Robin Jacques, A Book of Dwarfs is a collection of tales about dwarfs and tiny people from over half-a-dozen different countries. It is a children's book and many of the stories promote hard work and kindness (for those are the type of people these dwarfs tend to reward). In almost all of these stories, the dwarfs are good creatures who use their magical abilities to bless good people who may be poor or have had bad circumstances fall upon them. Among these tales are "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "The Cobbler and the Dwarfs," and "The Story of Maia" (probably more well known as Thumbelina). Overall, these stories were very fun to read. In most of these stories, the moral is that if you treat a dwarf well, he will reward you with his riches and magic, but if you anger a dwarf, he will play mean tricks on you. (While writing this review, I had constantly correct myself to write "dwarfs" instead of "dwarves.")

Book Review: The Golden Key and Other Stories

The Golden Key and Other Stories is a compilation of four short stories by George MacDonald. The first of the stories, "The Golden Key," is about a boy who lives on the border of Fairyland. He hears a story about a mysterious key that can be found at the end of a rainbow. One day, he sees a rainbow unlike any other and pursues the key at the end in the depths of Fairyland. However, once he find it, he doesn't know what to do with it or what it unlocks. He then begins his quest, along with a girl about his age, to discover what his golden key unlocks.

The next story, "The History of Photogen and Nycteris," tells the story of a witch named Watho and two children she aquires, Photogen and Nycteris. The witch raises the two completely separate from each other. The boy, Photogen, she raises in the sunlight and teaches him to fear the darkness. The girl, Nycteris, she raises in the darkness and keeps her from the sun. This goes on for years, and the two have grown into young adults now. However, one night, Nycteris escapes from her prison of darkness into a moonlit night. She is amazed by the moon, which she mistakes for the sun, and continues to go outside whenever she had the chance (which is always at night because she's been trained to sleep during the daytime hours). One evening, Photogen becomes curious about the night which he fears so much. He is a mighty hunter, able to conquer anything he can see. That evening, he leaves without Watho knowing, and waits for the night. And who also happens to be out that night? Nycteris. The two meet, and Watho's evil plot begins to unravel as the two realize how they have been tricked.

"The Shadows" is about an old man named Ralph Rinkelmann, who is chosen by the fairies to become their king. They choose a human to become their king to switch up their mundane lives for a while, and they choose him because he is old and soon to die (Seriously? These fairies are cruel). During the night after his coronation, Shadows visit him and implore him to learn more about them. The rest of this story is the interactions between the Shadows and King Ralph and the stories the Shadows tell about their lives.

The last story in this collection, "The Gifts of the Child Christ," was indeed most interesting. This story focuses on a family during Christmastime. The family consists of a father, mother, daughter, and a servant. All except for the very young daughter, the family is self-centered and lack the true meaning of Christmas. The maid, Alice, is soon to inherit a fortune from her dead uncle, and her character takes a change for the worse. The father and mother care little about their daughter, Phosy (her name is actually Sophy, but Phosy is her nickname and most used in the story). On the other hand, Phosy does not realize that she is being ill-treated and continually wishes for the Lord to chasten her, because "Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth" and she wants God to love her. Then, circumstances start to upset their plans. On Christmas morning, the family and servant Alice come to realize the importance of Christmas because of Phosy. The story does not present the Gospel or get too deep into theology, but it still has spiritual application.

Book Review: Green

Green by Ted Dekker is part of his highly allegorical series called The Circle Trilogy (Black, Red, and White). How does that work? Well, this one is called Book Zero, therefore making it possible to have four books in a trilogy. Anyway, this book is both an introduction and an ending to the Circle Trilogy. The purpose of this book is to further mesh together the plot of the other three to the point of creating a never ending, circular plot.

The story continues where White, the last book in the trilogy, left off. Thomas of Hunter (also known as Thomas Hunter, depending on which world he's in at the time) is leading the "albinos" (representing Christians) as they strive to live for Elyon (representing God) as they are persecuted by the Horde (representing unbelievers). As I mentioned before, this series is highly allegorical and you will need to keep your brain in gear as you read it in order to fully grasp the depth of the book. Each book in the series traces through themes in the Bible. Black deals with creation and the fall; Red deals with Old Testament believers; White deals with the church age; and finally Green deals with the tribulation period. However, once you reach the end of Green, there is this sense of eastern mysticism in the sense of the never-ending circle. I know it sounds complicated, but Green, which picks up where White ends, ends where Black begins. Dekker tends to remain vague on some doctrinal issues and leaves them up to the reader's interpretation of the story. It all depends on how much you read into the allegory. Green ends where Black picks up, therefore completing the Circle that makes this series a circle. Altogether, it was interesting to read.

Book Review: The Shining Company

Around A.D. 600, the Saxons are attacking Britain. The Shining Company tells the story of three hundred Britons, called the Shining Company and hence the title, who take a stand against the Saxon invaders from the vantage point of a boy named Prosper. In a time where the first-born is the only one who gets any real privilege or inheritance, the second-born Prosper wishes to join the king's army and leave to go adventuring. His closest companion is his bondservant Conn, a foreign boy about the same age as himself. When Prosper comes of age, he and Conn leave home to join the king's army, he as a shield-bearer and Conn as a metal smith. For a whole year, they do nothing but train, feast, and overall enjoy themselves. Then they fight in the tragic battle recorded in poem The Gododdin. This historical fiction is filled with stories of ancient Britain, about their ways of life, superstitions, fighting, and feasting.

I have posted two covers for the book. The first cover is the one on the copy I read. I found the other cover when I was searching for an image of the book's cover, and I thought that it was a nice cover. In the story, the white hart has to do with how Prosper got invited to join the king's army.

Book Review: Peter Pan in Scarlet

Peter Pan in Scarlet is authored by Geralidne McCaughrean and is the first official sequel to J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan. I haven't read Peter Pan, but I know the story well from the classic Disney cartoon movie and other books I have read. The sequel starts with Wendy, John, and the Lost Boys from the last book who returned to London, who are now all grownups and most of them with families of their own. They begin to have dreams about Neverland, with objects from Neverland appearing in their rooms after the dreams, and they deduce that something must be wrong in Neverland. But they are now adults, and they lack the faiy dust to fly to Neverland. They search for a baby's first laugh and find a newly born fairy, named Fireflyer, and they discover that the only way to become children again is to wear their childrens' clothes. Now suited with both pixie dust and the bodies of children once again, they head off to Neverland. Upon reaching Neverland, they discover that everything has changed, and Neverland appears to be growing old. I won't tell you anymore because that would be telling. It is a very fun book to read.

Funny snipet:

"Have you been saying your prayers?" she [Wendy]
demanded (a question every bit as scary as a sword waved in your face).
"Well, I haven't been saying anyone else's!"
retorted Peter.