The Wondrous Tale of Lavender Wolfe by Karen Foxlee illustrated by Martina Heiduczek

The curse: "We must find The Marigold's stolen treasure and return it before the dawn of the last day of the seventh year. If we don't we are doomed to be turned to sand."

"You are much more than your name, always remember that. All of us are a tale within a tale within a tale."

So, time is ticking. As this story begins it is the seventh year - April 4th 1719 and they only have until December 31st to complete their quest.

Every crew member (called the Worshipful Company of Uncommon Seamen) on the ship and every 'kidnapped' child is there because they possess a magical gift. With Lavender this gift is of hearing and naming the winds. You are right if you are thinking this is a very important skill on a sailing ship. 

I really wanted a character list for this book so I have created one:

• Lavender Wolfe - left at a wharf by her mother, snatched by the cook Big Agatha and taken onto a pirate ship named The Good Marchioness "the most magical and cursed pirate ship that ever sailed the seven seas". Lavender is renamed Hans Whitby (Whitby is the name of the town where she was 'found').
• Big Agatha the ogress and magical cook - she hugged "so hard that you were turned to flummery with being loved." "I can sense a teaspoonful of magic in an urchin quick as the whiskers grow on my chin. Yet I cannot say what that magic all be." 
• Colin one of the kitchen rats - he/she is especially kind to Lavender
• Poppet - another kitchen rat - he/she knows all the recipes cooked by Agatha
• Odine - a chicken 
• Samuel, Thomas, and Peter Portugal all ship's rats but none are able to complete the voyage with Lavender
• Michael - a boy who has been magically trapped in shell
• Captain Odyessia Pleasant - she is the captain of The Good Marchioness. One of her arms is a huge bird wing. "She was beautiful; a ragged scar across the left side of her face, from her lip to her missing ear, ... Captain Pleasant had a wing instead of a right arm. A large wing reached down almost to the floor, glowing coppery beneath the lanterns."
• Ginger - cat who can transform into a sailor
• Oliver de Basseterre - a baby
• The Princess with no name and her father the Wizard King
• Captain Barnabas Bloom - pirate and father to Michael. He is transformed into ... (sorry I can't tell you)
• Queniva - a sparrowhawk
• Crew - Sasha Blackhat; Jonas; Tiny Percival; Percy; Grimes and Savage
• Lyneham prisoner from the ship the pirates attacked and pillaged. (He is not to be trusted)
• The Little Duchess - Ghost-fetcher and her guardian The Dowager
• Princess Yasbel de la Esclera who has her named changed to Phillip - she has magical hair

Ships - Lady Eloise - a ghost ship which holds the spectral map; The Good Marchioness the ship carrying Lavender and others who need to break the curse; The Marigold which is the ship carrying the Princess to her betrothed and The Fair Fortune the ship of Captain Barnabas Bloom.

Recipes - all contain extra magic - I learned a new word or two in this book - ananas it's a pineapple and the word clapperdudgeon which means beggar.

Agatha calls the kitchen kids (all with boys names) rats but in fact she showers them with her love and enormous hugs. 

Text quotes:

"I never wanted to meet a ghost ship nor glimpse one from a distance. But I wanted to see the spell canister and its last spell resurrecting the princess and Michael out of the shell. I wanted Samuel and Peter and Octavius returned. I wanted everything restored, which meant me going home. I wanted more story. I wanted questions answered. I wanted to know how Captain Pleasant came to be cursed and how Ginger could turn into a cat."

"And I knew that I, Hans Whitby, previously of the pickling shelf, floor scrubber, potato peeler, spoon-shiner, still with the name of Lavender tucked safe inside me, magic porridge-stirrer, tender of wounds, meant for the sea, rescuer of prisoners and friend of a ghost-fetcher, with a tiny drop of blood from a cutlass upon my chest, climber of masts, was about to die."

This book is a huge saga - with nearly 400 pages and a myriad of characters and a complex plot. Young readers aged 10+ will need reading stamina and also plenty of time because I think you need to read this book over just two or three days so you can keep track of all the threads. I am speaking from experience because I read this book over five days in very small snatches and I kept having to turn back to previous scenes to follow all the twists and turns. There is the potential at the end of the story for a sequel but I actually hope Karen Foxlee does not continue her story and rather leaves the future adventures of young Lavender to our imaginations. 

You can find teachers notes on the publisher web page. Take a look at the labels I have assigned this post - these might give you further ideas about some of the themes (such as the importance of names and destinies) and these also hint at some major plot details.

A new book by Karen Foxlee is always something to celebrate and The Wondrous Tale of Lavender Wolfe is a wondrous and wonderful tale indeed, full of mystery and magic, inventive and memorable characters and a compelling protagonist. Story Links

This is a children’s book full of pirates and dangerous land and sea adventures. It is also a story of growing up and being there for others. It is about a growing awareness. Lavender was to learn that all of us are much more than what we first seem. We all have a tale within us. Even within the worst of us, goodness can be found. There are fair winds trapped within storms and even love hidden in bad spells. Queensland reviewer's collective

Blurb from author web page: Lavender Wolfe is a pickpurse, with a magical secret. She is all alone on a wharf when she is snatched by Big Agatha and thrown into the galley of the pirate ship, The Good Marchioness. Disguised as a boy (for only boys may live in the galley) and renamed Hans Whitby, Lavender has to make her home among the kitchen rats. However, The Good Marchioness is no ordinary no ordinary ship. Captained by Odyessia Pleasant, a fierce pirate with long blonde hair, violet eyes and a bird’s wing in place of an arm, the crew are on a desperate voyage – to find and return stolen treasure before all those who sail within the cursed pirate ship are turned to sand. Lavender included. Lavender is quick-witted and sharp as a tack, and as her magic starts to be revealed she finds herself coming under the arresting gaze of Captain Pleasant. Will Lavender help break the curse? Or will she be just another victim of this story within a story, her true identity lost to the sands of time? An adventure as big as the ocean and as warm as your heart. All aboard!

I do have to talk for a moment about pirate stories. Sadly, there are real pirates in our world we now call them people smugglers. A few of us have begun to re-think our picture books about pirates especially if members of your school community have come to Australia as refugees. Strangely I read another Australian middle grade novel with a pirate theme last month - Oceanforged my Amelia Mellior. The issue of pirates and of glorifying them in kids story books is one I need to ponder a little more deeply. This is not intended as a criticism of The Wondrous Tale of Lavender Wolfe it is just something to consider. 

Here is some further reading about this topic:

Sails and Souls: The Literary Evolution of Pirates from Simple Rogues to Morally Complex Heroes in Children’s Fiction

I am a huge fan of Karen Foxlee.  Take a look at these:

Lenny's Book of Everything

Dragon Skin (ages 11+)

A most magical girl

Ophelia and the marvelous boy

The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm by Karen Foxlee illustrated by Freda Chiu

Could there be any truth to the myth of the beast who lives in the ancient well? And if so, why would it return? 

What is a Wyrm? 

I did a little research and found these definitions:

• In European mythology, a wyrm  is often depicted as a snake of considerable size and somehow related to dragons.
• A huge limbless and wingless dragon or dragon-like creature.

Mary-Kate also does some research and discovers a picture of an Annelid. It looks very similar to the painting of the legendary worm that she has seen in the village library.  "Annelids are segmented worms. If their tail ends are cut off they can sometimes grow them back again." "An earthworm is a type of annelid. They can have five or more hearts. ... They leave behind trails of slime." "Earthworms don't have eyes, but they can sense light. They also feel vibrations."

Mary-Kate is a sensible girl. She has her strawberry scented notebook and glitter pens. She fills her bag with things that give her courage and help her to overcome her many anxieties. It is time to get the facts about this wyrm and then to formulate a theory about the mysterious happenings in this small village.  

Publisher blurb: Dressed in sparkly red shoes and carrying her strawberry-scented notebook, Mary-Kate is accompanying her archaeologist mother to the tranquil English countryside to investigate some interesting bones found in an old well. But once they arrive, they realise that the village of Woolington is not as peaceful as it seems. Mysterious noises, earth tremors and a terrifying legend have the locals frightened.

I especially appreciated the way Karen Foxlee gives her readers a strong sense of place - in this case a small English-style village. There is a map included at the beginning of the book. I do enjoy books with maps  It is also easy to like Mary-Kate because she is so honest about her fears and personal rituals.

"Mary-Kate Martin chose from her lucky items collection carefully. First, she chose the lucky silver packet that contained the last seven pieces of gum that her father left behind before he disappeared on Mount Snishapangma when she was five."

Then she adds - her novelty Big Ben torch; her lucky stress ball; and her international coin collection of 33 coins in a small glass jar. She puts on her red sparkly shoes. Her backpack is also red and sparkly so she has exactly the right amount of sparkle. Mary-Kate is somewhat of a catastrophist. 

"She'd worry that by not wearing matching clothes something would happen. Something terrible. Like a train crash. Or an avalanche. Or an avalanche onto a train travelling through a mountain tunnel."

Mary-Kate does not like brown pencils; beginnings and ending; facing backwards on trains; small talk in social situations; slime; or sudden changes. But she has uncovered a mystery and she has a new friend Arabella and she likes the eccentric village residents so now it's time to put aside some of her fears and try sort out the truth.

Each chapter begins with a extract from PK Mayberry's Guide to Monsters of the Northern Hemisphere:

"Truth is at the heart of every monster hunters' search."

"A monster hunters' greatest tool is knowledge."

"Monsters quite often do very surprising things."

This story had me guessing right to the end. I kept forming my own theories about the wyrm, most of which were proved to be completely incorrect. 

Huge thanks to Allen and Unwin for sending this review copy. The Wrath of the Woolington Wrym will be enjoyed by readers aged 9+. It would also be a good book to read aloud in a family. 

Foxlee has the ability to create a world which is easy to imagine, captivating the reader from beginning to end. Whether it be set in the real world, or one which has an element of fantasy, the reader is always taken on a ride. All her stories so far have a young female central character and The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm is no exception.  GLAM Adelaide

This is the first book in a series entitled - Miss Mary-Kate Martin's Guide to Monsters. Book two is titled The Trouble with the Two-headed Hydra. There are just enough mysteries left over from book one that all readers will hope are solved in the second instalment - is Mary-Kate's father actually dead; what is her mother's real job and is this connected with monsters: and with just six pieces of gum left will Mary-Kate need to use another one for her next adventure. I do enjoy stories where objects, like the ones in her backpack, each have an important, but unpredictable, role in the story solution. Take a look at my discussion of My Father's Dragon for a great example of this. I do like the cover by Freda Chiu. This book has an old-fashioned feel a little like the Stella Montgomery series (book two) (book three) by Judith Rossell. 

I have talked about nearly all of Karen Foxlee's previous books:

Dragon Skin

Lenny's Book of Everything

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy

A most Magical Girl

Dragon Skin by Karen Foxlee illustrated by Dale Newman

Look at this wonderful opening sentence:

"She didn't want to go home and that's why she found it."

This is a powerful opening sentence that just demands you read on (and on and on). What is happening at home? Is it something bad? What did she find? Who is this girl? Where is she? 

Home? Read on and see how Karen Foxlee is a master of word placement and choice:

"Matt would have come home and the screen door would have slammed hard and his tool bag would have crashed down on the kitchen bench. They would have flinched ... "

"Matt liked Pip in her room with the light off and the door closed so he could have her mum all to himself. He didn't like any competition. Competition made him angry."

"Now he was sitting drinking his coffee and scrolling through Facebook and stealing all the oxygen. Her mother and her had to survive on small sips of air."

"He was dangerous like hairpin bends in the road."

"Matt was made complete out of anger. He was an armour of anger and he had anger blood and he had a heart that was solid anger."

Now we know why Pip doesn't want to go home. Home is not a safe place. Pip knows her mother feels this too but leaving will take great courage.  In the meantime what has she found?

"I will save you.

I will help you.

I will fix your wings.

I was chosen."

Pip has found a baby dragon. 

I adore the way Karen Foxlee references Australia in her story. Mika tells Pip they might be bunyips at the waterhole. If this book is taken up by a US publisher I wonder what they will make of bunyips!

There is just so much to love about this book. The writing is powerful. The title is perfect and contains more than one meaning which will be revealed as you read. And this whole book is utterly brave! Karen Foxlee creates the most amazing tension in this story. Yes I've shared enough text with you so you know about Matt and his temper and way of controlling her mum but there is also the tension about Pip's friend Mika. I am not going to spoil this important story strand. And there is the little dragon himself. Pip names him Little Fella. He has come into Pip's life at just the right time. She has something to love and in turn this tiny creature helps her navigate this year of loss and fear. Little Fella also helps her make special new friends. I read one reviewer (Goodreads) who said summed this book up perfectly "So lovely, so heart-breaking and then heart-mending."  My only other personal comment about this book is that I deeply hope the terrible violence she describes in the relationship between Matt and Pip's mum was not based on any aspect of Karen's own life.  

I'm in love with this book. Dragon Skin is surprising, beautiful, unique. The characters are wonderfully drawn - tough but vulnerable, hurt but hopeful, damaged but strong. They've lodged themselves in my heart forever.' Katrina Nannestad

Dragon Skin will be available from tomorrow and I am certain it will be listed for many awards here in Australia and perhaps beyond. School libraries who subscribe to standing order services will receive this book in their book package but if you are in a library, and you don't purchase books this way, I strongly suggest you add Dragon Skin to your book shopping list NOW!  And YES this is a book for Upper Primary (mature readers aged 11+ look at the labels at the bottom of this post) and High Schools too. I am also thrilled that this book is such a great price at less then $20 for the hardcover. 

A friend from our IBBY committee sent me an Advance Reader copy of Dragon Skin and then the publisher Allen and Unwin (thanks go to Yvette Gilfillan) sent me the finished copy which is a beautifully designed hardback with an embossed cover. Take a look at this twelve page chapter sampler. 

Karen Foxlee books just get better and better.  Take a look at some here:

Lenny's Book of Everything

A Most Magical Girl

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy

Companion reads:

A Game of Fox and Squirrels

One for the Murphys

The Star Outside my Window

One more thing - you already know I am obsessive about covers.  Here is the paperback cover for the UK edition of Dragon Skin due out at the end of October. 

Lenny's Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee

Are you kidding me!

Holy Batman

This is a GREAT book!

Reading this book is a profound experience. I have read it twice - something I rarely do. I was lucky to have access to an advanced reader copy earlier in the year. It wasn't even in book form. I read the pages, almost obsessively, over two days. Last week Lenny's Book of Everything arrived in bookshops. I rushed out to buy a copy and over the last two days I have lived in the world of Lenny, Davey, Cindy and Mrs Caspar all over again.

The structure of this book is just perfect. Cindy Spink wins her family a set of Burrell's Build-it-at-Home Encyclopedia set.

"Welcome to the Spink family. My name is Cindy and I have two children, Lenore and David. Their father died nearly a year ago. ... My children are the Love of My Life. They are both beautiful although Davey is very big for his age. I've taken him to the doctor and they are going to figure out why. Lenore is so good to her brother and so very smart in third grade."

Between 1969 and 1977 the parts of the encyclopedia arrive from A to Z one part at a time. Exploration of each book part when it arrives provides light relief from the heavy themes explored in this powerful and honest story. I also loved and laughed at the letters send from Martha Brent the General Sales Manager at Burrell's Publishing Company.  I like to think that Karen Foxlee really enjoyed her research for these sections. Here are Lenny's comments when "B" arrives:

"Bats for starters: fringe-lipped and spear-nosed and bonneted. Leaf-chinned and bulldog and vampire. Bacteria: four kinds. Badgers and baobab trees. Several coloured pages of birds which were brilliant. On each page, we chose and ordered our favourites. My ultimate favourite was the meadowlark because it reminded me of open places. Davey's ultimate favourite was the golden eagle."

Mum knows something is wrong when Davey is born. "It's not a hurting kind of feeling, Just a something-will-happen feeling.' 'A good thing or bad thing?' I asked. "It might be good or bad or somewhere in between,' she said. 'We'll just have to wait and see."

They watch as Davey grows taller sometimes even overnight. Mrs Caspar, their neighbour, tries to help. She is happy to babysit Davey when Cindy is at work. There are monthly phone conversations with Nanny Flora who lives far away and the kindness of Lenny's school friends CJ and Mathew Milford. Eventually Cindy takes Davey to see a specialist. There are treatments and surgery but sadly, while these work for a while, eventually the awful tumors come back.

One aspect of this story that absolutely warmed my heart was the way other kids reacted to Davey at school. After a very bad start when Cindy tried to enroll him at the local preschool I was so worried about his first day in Grade One. By now age six he is nearly five feet tall. He does look odd so it was wonderful to read that the teacher was kind and that the other kids totally accepted Davey.  His warm smile and lovely ways charmed them all.

The other wonderful aspect of this story is the honesty of Lenny herself. She deeply loves her brother but she also worries about him, she suffers with embarrassment in public and at school, and she is sometimes very annoyed with him - all perfectly understandable and real emotions. How will she survive when he is gone?

The cast of secondary characters in this book are also simply fabulous.  Here are some descriptions.

Mrs Caspar (their Hungarian neighbour who shares her widely vivid dreams)
"She had two Pomeranians with marmalade-coloured coats named Karl and Karla. The apartment smelled of them, and also ashtrays, filled with white cigarette filters, each decorated with a ring of peach lipstick. Her apartment was a kaleidoscope of tan crocheted doilies and pumpkin-coloured throw rugs; even Mrs Caspar's orange beehive, which sat a little askew on her head, matched the decor."

Mr King (he owns the fruit shop and lusts after Cindy)
"Mr King was as short as my mother ... (he) had a little round belly like he'd swallowed a baby. His satiny shirt strained over it ... He looked at my mother like he could suck her up through a straw, just like and that, and she would be all his."

Mr Petersburg (reclusive and mysterious neighbour who writes to prisoners)
"Mr Petersburg looked deeply embarrassed to have been discovered. Frightened too. He bent down to pick up his letter. ... He wore his powder-blue suit and his white hair was combed back severely over his white skull. The letters trembled in his very white hand."

I have been thinking about the evolution of Karen Foxlee.  I enjoyed Ophelia and the Marvelous boy but I did take quite a long time to finish it. A Most Magical Girl was a fabulous book and certainly worth of a Kirkus Star review. It was short listed for our CBCA 2017 award but really should have been the winner in my view. Now we have a completely different and even better book - Lenny's Book of Everything.

Read some reviews by young readers. You can read the first 38 pages on the publisher web site and find a link to a set of brilliant teachers notes. Here is an interview with the author. If you loved Wonder then look for Lenny's Book of Everything.  I also recommend Wish upon a Unicorn by Karen Hesse and A corner of the Universe by Ann M Martin.

Take a close look at the cover.  The eagle image is made of up a collage. The cover uses images from the Golden Book Encyclopedia. Read about the design of the cover. Here is Volume 8 which features beetles on the cover in honour of Lenny who loves beetles.

Image source: http://opentranscripts.org/transcript/wrapping-sentences-around-things/

Lenny's Book of Everything simply MUST make our CBCA 2019 short list - yes it is that good! If I haven't convinced you to read this book take a look at this insightful and brilliant review by Dimity Powell. You can read how Karen's real life experience led her to write this story of Lenny, Davey and Cindy.

If you want to read some thoughts about death and loss in Middle Grade Fiction take a look at this post by US Teacher-Librarian Holly Mueller.

Here is the US cover - I like it. Do you?

A tough, tender and beautiful piece of work that left me aching - Glenda Millard

You come to care so deeply for the characters that you want to move into their little flat and look after them. ... Told with piercing honest and clarity of a child, this story holds life lessons for everyone. W is for wonderful, and that is Lenny's Book - unforgettable - Anna Fienberg

A most magical girl by Karen Foxlee

"the Morever Wand must be retrieved form its hidden resting place in Under London by the youngest and most able member of the society; preferably, a most magical girl."

A most magical girl is short listed for our CBCA Awards this year.  I am fairly sure it will receive a prize - yes it is that good.  You will feel at times that you are drowning in a cold underground river, crawling into tiny spaces, hiding from an enormous hungry dragon and smelling the rotting food hoarded by trolls.  You will also grimace as the evil maniac Mr. Angel feeds his Dark-Magic extracting machine all manner of sadness and horror from the fog filled streets of Victorian London.

You can read about the plot of this book on some of the links to reviews below.  I thought it might be more useful if I share some text quotes which will show you aspects of this writing.

Detailed character descriptions :

Kitty - "Her head was held low, a furious frown upon her face, and there was not an inch of tidiness to her. Her wet black curls were tied roughly with a piece of twine, and a brown leaf dangled on a strand beside her ear."

Mr. Angel the wizard - "He had very dark eyes, which were sad, probably the saddest eyes she had ever seen, with very long lashes. He had a largish nose and a mouth that was rather lopsided, one side sneering, one side melancholy. ... He was sad and lonely-looking. He was wicked-looking."

"three shadowlings ... dreadful things, made of nothing yet brimming with wickedness, sleeping shadows bought to life with his dark magic."

All manner of smells permeate this story :

"Hafwen smelled of the earth and unwashed clothes and deep dark places, and for reasons Annabel did not understand, this was comforting."

You can really see the scenes and I do think this book would make a fabulous movie :

"It was a mean street, the buildings leaning, holding each other up like a mouthful of rotten teeth."

"Outside, she could hear London : horses' hooves and carriage wheels, the lowing of cattle and ... somewhere, someone wailing."

"Then the broomstick stopped. ... Then it shot forward at great speed. ... It hurled through a church nave door and careered back out again. It skidded beneath a bridge. It fishtailed between factory smokestacks. ... It hit the window, and the glass fell apart in great shards around them ... "

Little touches of humor:

"Surely they shouldn't be outside in such weather.  She'd catch a cold and take ill. A physician would be called for, and he'd say that nothing could be done.  Her story would be serialized in the Illustrated London News ... There would be illustrations."

"Annabel had played shuttlecock with Isabelle Rutherford ... Surely hitting a light orb was no different."

Chapter Headings 

One of the parts of this book that I absolutely adore are the little chapter headings - quotes from Miss Finch's Little Blue Book (1855).

"A young lady rises early, opens her windows, and delights in the pleasures of an industrious day." Chapter 2

"In education, geography is harmless, but too much history and politics can lead to a quarrelsome nature." Chapter 5

"No matter the heat, a young lady shall not remove her gloves in the ballroom." Chapter 17

The idea of drawing the map of Under London on Annabel's skin is also ingenious.

Here is a little warning.  At about page 270 I realised everything was not going to be resolved for Annabel and her wonderful betwixter friend Kitty and that I was going to have to wait for the sequel. I do hope Karen Foxlee has a plan for this but I cannot find any details yet.

I have already talked about Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy. I think A most magical girl is an even better book.  The tension is well maintained and the plot keeps moving swiftly. You will cheer for Annabel as she overcomes huge obstacles and shows great kindness especially towards the little troll Hafwen.

• Author web site.
• Kirkus review.
• Listen to an audio sample starting from page 93.
• Looking Glass review.
• You can buy this book from iTunes.
• Publisher site.

There are three double page illustrations in this book which mark the sections as the Dark Magic Gauge gains power.  I really like these dark illustrations and the front cover by Canadian Elly MacKay.

After reading A most magical girl I recommend you look for The book without Words, A very unusual pursuit, Barnaby Grimes and the curse of the night wolf, and Rooftoppers.

Ophelia and the marvelous boy by Karen Foxlee

It took me a long time to read this book and then it  sat on my review pile for a long time too but last night I watched the movie Frozen which led me to think about the power of a story like The Snow Queen and hence this book.  Ophelia and the Marvelous boy is deeply entwined with the famous story of the Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen.

Before reading on take a minute to click this site and read the whole prologue to Ophelia and the marvelous boy.  It will give you a sense of the tone and astute readers will immediately see the connection with The Snow Queen.

Ophelia has come with her sister and father to a large city museum.  Her father has been appointed curator of  "Battle : the greatest exhibition of swords in the history of the world."  Malcolm is a sword expert but he is also easy distracted by his work which he conducts with meticulous care.  This means he has not noticed that his younger daughter Ophelia has become caught up in her own quest - to free The Marvelous Boy.  If you have read the prologue you will know he has been locked up.

"If you choose to help me, you must find the key to this door.  We need to find my sword, which is magical, and the One Other, who will know how to wield it.  On the Wintertide Clock there is a number in the little window at the very bottom of the face, ... that will tell us how much time we have."

They have just three days.  Over this time Ophelia will learn the full story of the Marvelous Boy and each day she will have to overcome her own terror and retrieve things for the boy beginning with the key to his room.

Here is a review in our Australian magazine Reading Time.  Here is an interview with the author. One more review worth reading from the School Library Journal.

If you pick out this book for a class novel study it might be interesting to compare it with The Tunnel by Anthony Browne.  You might also enjoy Temmi and the flying bears.  We also have Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu in our library along with many editions of The Snow Queen.

Though she’s unsure she believes the boy’s fantastical story, Ophelia gradually heeds an inner voice urging her 

to follow her heart.