New historical fiction
Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres. I love hearing about how things were in the olden days (particularly from the comfort of my couch in my air conditioned house with indoor plumbing and refrigerator and dishwasher). But in the way of taking you some place you didn't even know you wanted to go, these stories totally do that. The first one is a fairy tale. I suppose this seems like a bit of an oxymoron-a new fairy tale, how can that be? Aren't fairy tales old folk tales? Kings and queens and princesses? Well, it turns out that new ones get written all the time and this one is absolutely terrific. It's called Eight Princesses and a Magic Mirror. It's written by Natasha Farrant and illustrated by Lydia Corry. The story starts with an enchantress who is asked by a king and queen to be a godmother to their daughter, except that the enchantress, who really wants to do the right thing, doesn't know exactly what makes a good princ...