Children's Corner: The Princess Knight

 When my daughter brought home a Cornelia Funke book from the school library, both my husband and I were a little surprised.  My husband knows her from the Inkheart movie, and I from the book as well.  I wasn't a huge fan of Inkheart; I found it cumbersome.  I enjoy the story, but I think some of the magic was lost in translation.  Needless to say, I was very interested to see how her Children's books translate.

I was pleasantly surprised.  Although still rather wordy for a picture book, it worked well.  It is definitely a picture book for the more mature crowd, and that's okay too.

Violetta reminds me of a cross between Merida and The Princess Who Saved Herself (although Violetta came first). Kidlet especially enjoyed it because it reminded her of Merlin, with all the jousting and sword fighting.   My husband and I both appreciated the message.  Next time Kidlet brings home Cornelia Funke, eyebrows won't raise quite so high.




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Book to Movie: Inkheart

Summary:  When Mo Folchart reads a story, the characters leap off the page. Literally. And that's a problem. Mo must somehow use his special powers to send the interlopers back to their world…and save ours. If ever a task was easier read than done, this is it. Mo and his daughter Meggie, aided by friends real and fictional, plunge into a thrilling quest that pits them against diabolical villains, fantastic beasts and dangers at every turn. Brendan Fraser (The Mummy films, Journey to the Center of the Earth) leads a splendid cast (including Academy Award winners* Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent) in an all-fun, all-family film of Cornelia Funke's bestseller. Follow Mo and Meggie into adventure more exciting than any ever read. Because it's adventure they're going to live! ~product description

Review:  This is one of those rare occasions where I think the movie outshines the book.  It felt like it was updated a good fifty years and condensed the story with the effect of actually making it more cohesive.  Plus it has a fantastic all star cast.

The ending is a little different, there is more closure, which is nice.  Also, the character of Meggie is given more substance and control over her situation, which I liked.  Perhaps it draws from the next two books in the series, I'm not sure.  There was also an infusion of more fairy tale characters which rounded out the concept of the silvertounge ability, I actually wished they had been included a little more, but that would have been straying too far from Cornelia Funke's original plot.

However, I watched this with my husband and he did not find the movie engaging.  So perhaps, if you haven't read the book, it isn't as interesting.  Although I think he took issue with the concept as a whole.  Overall, I think it's a great family movie, though perhaps a little too old for my daughter, who won't catch all the other literary references yet and will have tons of questions about all the bad guys.  If you enjoy fantasy, you should certainly check out this movie.

Final Take:  4.0/5

Jenn's Review: Inkheart

Summary: Cornelia Funke, the enormously talented author of the international best-seller THE THIEF LORD, brings readers another spellbinding tale of adventure and magic. Meggie lives a quiet life alone with her father, a book-binder. But her father has a deep secret-- he posseses an extraordinary magical power. One day a mysterious stranger arrives who seems linked to her father's past. Who is this sinister character and what does he want? Suddenly Meggie is involved in a breathless game of escape and intrigue as her father's life is put in danger. Will she be able to save him in time?

Review: This is another book off my 2011 To Be Read Challenge that's been sitting on my desk for a few years. I've actually been looking forward to this one to the point where, perhaps, my expectations may have been a little inflated. I thought this fell a little short of the mark. Don't get me wrong, it's a good book, but it's not as spellbinding as I hoped it would be.

For one, the writing is very dense for a children's novel and full of metaphors. It seems a little stiff, formal and rather old fashioned. I actually checked the publishing date because I wasn't sure of the time period from the context.  Yes, almost at the end of this book cell phones are mentioned, but otherwise, this could have been set fifty years ago.  This may have something to do with the fact that it was translated into English from German, but I think it also has a lot to do with Cornelia Funke's writing style.  She does cite J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, and J. M Barrie’s Petter Pan as her favorite childhood fantasy novels, so perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised.

The characters are interesting -I can definitely relate to Elinor and her house full of books that she considers family. I probably would have ended up a lot like her if I hadn't met my husband. Meggie is sweet and unassuming, but I felt like the reader doesn't get to know her very well. There are no other children in the story really, and the plot is such that she doesn't have much time to be a child. So the story, though centered on Meggie, has a very mature feel to it.

There is also little levity to be found. Maybe that's why I found myself needing to put it down and take a break from time to time. However, even though it wasn't "unputdownable", the concept was fascinating and had me hooked. I loved that Ms. Funke takes the metaphor of books coming alive and makes it literal. You were never quite sure what anyone's motivation was or who could be trusted.

Inkheart is left a little open-ended, there are two more books in the series, but not so gaping that it feels unresolved. I will be reading the next two books and, now that I know what to expect, I'll see if it changes how I feel about the books. If you are a fan of children's fantasy, you should certainly check out the Inkheart series.

Final Take: 3.75/5