I find a lot of children’s books too drab and realistic – they should have a bit of magic. I read this book when I was six and had to spend months in bed with bronchitis. The story is of a boy and a princess who go into a mountain inhabited by goblins. It’s scary, but not so scary that you think the protagonists won’t triumph, and it taps into a child’s desire for adventure when they are starting to discover the world.
The ageless story of mystery and magic, good and evil. Princess Irene's discovery of a secret stair to the top turret of the castle leads to a wonderful revelation. At the same time, the miner's son Curdie overhears a fiendish plot by the goblins who live below the mountain. But it will take all their wit and courage, and the help of Irene's magic ring, to make sense of their separate knowledge and foil the goblins' schemes.
George MacDonald (1824-1905) was a minister who was rejected by his congregation, and struggled thereafter to support his family of eleven children by writing. In his own day he was celebrated as poet, preacher, and lecturer, and as the author of numerous novels. He is best known today for his vivid children's stories.
