| For more reviews, check out my blog: Craft-Cycle This is such a cute story. I loved the premise and all of the descriptions. Nicely done. And as always, Cornelia Funke does a great job reading the book in the audiobook. Her readings are so engaging and entertaining. |
Worum geht es und wie war es?
Manchmal ist es Zeit für ein Kinderbuch, eine Geschichte zum Entspannen und den Alltag vergessen. Dieses Buch beinhaltet eine solche Geschichte. Gestern beim Stöbern in der Bücherei fiel es mir in die Hände und die Zeichnungen von Kerstin Meyer hab mich für die Geschichte aufmerksam gemacht.
Emma ist 8 Jahre alt und lebt mit ihren vier älteren Brüdern zusammen, was nicht immer einfach für sie ist. Eines Nachts findet sie zusammen mit ihrem Hund Tristan eine Flasche am Strang und darin befindet sich ein blauer Dschinn. Damit beginnt Emmas Abenteuer und nimmt jeden kleinen und großen Leser mit hinein in fremde Länder, mit zu exotischen Tieren und fantastischen Wesen. Ein wirklich liebevoll gestaltetes und erzähltes Kinderbuch.
Von mir gibt es dafür 5 von 5 Sternen.
Genre: Family / Feminism / Medieval Ages / Children's Book
Year Published: 2001
Year Read: 2011
Publisher: The Chicken House
I was reading this book for the Children's Book Picture Book Club for the theme of royalty and I was so into this book! “The Princess Knight” is a children's book by Cornelia Funke along with illustrations by Kerstin Meyer and it is about a young woman named Violetta who ends up competing with the other knights to become the best knight in her father's kingdom. “The Princess Knight” is a truly brilliant book that shows women in a strong light that every child will definitely love for many years!
If you think that you have read any fairy tale that has a female knight, then you will definitely enjoy this rare gem that features such a strong and clever female knight! Originally published in Germany and being Cornelia Funke's first picture book to be published in English, “The Princess Knight” is definitely one phenomenal tale that should be well known to children everywhere! Cornelia Funke has done an impressive job at writing this book as it is a cute yet inspiring tale about a young woman's determination to become the best knight her father's kingdom. What I really loved about this book was the main character Violetta as she was truly a clever and strong woman whose determination and independent nature made her a successful character at the end. I loved the way that Violetta handled the situation about being married to one of the knights if they win since she used her cleverness and strength to get out of the situation. Personally, I totally understand how Violetta felt about having her father chose who she should marry because I would have been upset myself at the idea of marrying someone that was based on another person's opinion and not my own. I believe that only you would know who you want to spend the rest of your life with and what to look for in a successful relationship because the other person might choose a spouse that might either hurt you or does not share the same interests as you do. That is not to say that whoever your friends and family chose for you always comes out bad, but once again, only you have the power to say who you want to be with.
The only problem I had with this book were the illustrations by Kerstin Meyer. Now, I still gave this book a five star rating anyway because of the story itself, but the illustrations were just too simplistic and confusing for me to follow. What I mean is that whenever I try to read the story, the illustrations are shown differently from the story and they tend to kind of run ahead of the story that I get confused about what is really happening with the illustrations. Also, the illustrations rarely have any color to the characters and the background rarely have anything to indicate where the characters are positioned at.
Overall, “The Princess Knight” is a truly amazing book that children who love reading about strong heroines will definitely enjoy for many years! I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this story.
Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog
Genre: Pirates / Drama / Adventure / Fantasy
Year Published: 2003
Year Read: 2016
Publisher: The Chicken House
After reading “The Princess Knight” a couple of years ago, I became more interested in reading Cornelia Funke’s works that have strong female protagonists saving the day through their wits. So, I picked up this interesting book called “Pirate Girl” by Cornelia Funke along with illustrations by Kerstin Meyer that seems right up my alley!
Captain Firebeard was known as the terror of the high seas as everyone ran away in fear from him and his unruly crew of pirates. One day, however, Captain Firebeard ends up meeting a young girl named Molly who was on her way to visit her grandma. Captain Firebeard then captures her and tried to get Molly to tell him what her parents’ names and address were, but Molly refused to tell the pirates anything. So, the pirates decided to make Molly their servant by making her do all the work around the ship until she reveals her parents’ identities. However, Captain Firebeard will soon learn the hard way that Molly is much smarter and resourceful than she lets on, which could lead to his downfall!
Once again, Cornelia Funke has written a truly inspirational and witty book about strong female protagonists that really made me cheer for the lead character throughout this story! I loved the way Cornelia Funke has written Molly as being a resourceful and brave little girl as it made her character extremely inspiring and I loved the fact that even though Captain Firebeard threatened her at every turn, she still stood her ground by refusing to tell him about her parents’ names and address, which I found admirable. Kerstin Meyer’s artwork is cute and simplistic to look at as the pirates truly do look menacing and Molly is drawn in an extremely cute yet tough way as she is shown wearing red pigtails, a pink shirt and black pants which was quite unusual for this type of story.
Parents should know that this story involves a little girl getting kidnapped by pirates and some parents might worry about the idea of a small child getting kidnapped by pirates due to the real world similarities of a young child getting abducted by strangers. Parents might want to discuss about strangers to their children so that way their children can gain a better understanding on the topic of strangers and kidnapping.
Overall, “Pirate Girl” is a truly fantastic book about standing up for yourself and using your wits to get out of terrible situations. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the kidnapping theme might upset some children.
Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog
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