Chapter Books - The Goose Girl

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale 2005

I enjoy fairy tales, but do not often venture into the chapter book length ones. The Goose Girl for me almost borders on being a fantasy book versus fairy tale, but there is no mistaking the basics that keep it in that category. The author definitely has a way with words. The text is filled with descriptive writing and the pages are loaded with unique similes and metaphors. The bases to the story has a familiar Cinderella quality to it, yet is still different enough that you really don’t notice it at first.

There are many twists and turns in the plot and the situations at times can be uneasy for animal enthusiasts. As the reader follows the life of Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kilendree, at times the unusual names and circumstances can be a bit confusing if one doesn’t read carefully. Stories with this type of complexity I find can trip up a reader who occasionally will skim pages with an over abundance of imagery like myself. Definitely worth reading, but the suggested age is 4th grade and up. I will go out on a limb and actually say maybe 5th grade and up, but think those a little older would really enjoy this. It is lengthy so would recommend for a cold or snowy weekend reading. As a side note for some of the younger readers, when I can’t figure out the correct pronunciation for character’s name or most of them like in this book, I usually give them a nickname. For Anidori-Kiladra, I used Andi.