Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Igraine the Brave
Fiction
For ages 8 to 12
Scholastic, 2007 ISBN: 0439903793
Tomorrow Igraine is going to turn twelve and she is really looking forward to her special day. Her parents are skilled magicians, and they always create a very special magical gift for Igraine’s birthdays. Though she enjoys some of her parent’s magic, Igraine, unlike her brother Albert, has no interest in becoming a magician. No indeed, Igraine wants to be a knight, and she is eager to have the opportunity to learn more knightly skills.
Igraine’s wish arrives much sooner than she ever anticipated. On her birthday, two important things happen; Igraine’s parents accidentally turn themselves into pigs, and a frightful person called Osmund the Greedy comes to Igraine’s castle home to demand that her parents give up the Singing Books of Magic that have in their possession. Albert and Igraine keep their piggy parents out of sight and they do their best to put off Osmund, but they know all too well that this terrible man will soon be back with many soldiers and weapons. Igraine will have to leave the castle to find the one ingredient that her parents need to reverse the spell on them – some hairs from a red-headed giant.
In this deliciously entertaining story, we get to meet a knight in the making who is nothing like the traditional knights we have all read about. This knight is a girl who discovers that there is a lot more to being a knight than she thought. There is a code of honor that must be upheld, and, in addition, it is always a good idea to keep your wits about you when you are trying to solve a sticky problem.
