G- The Enchanted Kingdom
"Okay," you ask, "What's a coloring book doing in this site?" "Well," I reply, "You should start training kids early." Besides, it's definitely stock fantasy- much more so than Rainbow Bright or My Little Ponies. And hey, I might put them up here, too. Gotta have something for the kids to read.
Abrams has written two books that I know of, both children's storybooks with hidden picture and coloring elements. The drawings are elegant but simple enough for 6-8 year-olds to color. The reading level is supposed to be 9-12, but most children will be able to handle it at a younger age with a little help. Oddly enough, I don't find them particularly childish even now, but nothing in them ever upset me when I was younger, either. These are nicely written, interactive books for an imaginative youngster.
The sequel to The Enchanted Forest is The Enchanted Kingdom, a coloring/hidden pictures story-book about a princess whose kingdom is under a curse- no one is ever happy there. The princes grew up in the forest, so she isn't affected by this, but the troubles of her people upset her. She and the Prince she loves set out to undo the curse with the help of talking animals and magical beings. This is a good example of "showing" rather than "telling". Though many of the moral lessons are predictable, some were unexpected and well-wrought. Plus, the pictures are so pretty I still liked it a couple of years into grade school. Aimed at girls, I think it could be interesting to either gender, as long as the child in question is the imaginative sort.
(Main Page)
(Categories)
(Awards)
(Authors)
(Titles)
(Top 100)
(Rewrites)
This page owned by: Raven
Questions? Comments? Smart Remarks?
Email me at
[email protected]
Last Updated: October 15, 1999
Author and book reviews are the copyrighted property and responsibility of the person named at the end of the review. If no one is named, they belong to Raven. Any author or publisher who does not want their copyrighted material to be on this page email the reviewer and it will be removed immediately. The reviewer reserves the right to remove material rather than alter it in any way.
