In a kingdom ruled by a capricious king, the castle rests on the backs of twenty-four goats, and the welfare of those goats rests on the back of a girl called Bernadette. So when one goat escapes, it’s up to her—with the help of a very forgetful wizard and a Boat That Does Not Grant Wishes—to bring it back safely.
Exuberant wordplay and a wryly witty narrative distinguish this broadly humorous and endearing fantasy in which a young goatherd’s charges escape their servitude. . . . Stead’s narrative voice is warm, intimate, and slightly goofy, enveloping the reader in the storytelling process. Running jokes invite giggles, homey adages are sandwiched between tiny goat silhouettes, and Latin phrases (many hilariously misused) and their translations pepper the text. Atmospheric, whimsical drawings enhance this story, which will please fans of Norton Juster and Terry Pratchett. . . . A perfect amount of magic.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)Playful is the first word that comes to mind when describing lauded picture-book creator Stead’s first novel, as much from the way he plays with form as from the whimsical and comical details he scatters about the tale. Strip all that away and you have a classic fantasy-adventure plot featuring a greedy, uncaring king and a poor, mistreated girl who embarks on a quest to put things to rights. Stead’s gambit is his well-meaning narrator, who is both a participant in the story’s action and its author—to a point. It is, therefore, the narrator who decides to begin telling the story in medias res (several characters have a fondness for Latin), only to change his mind and drop readers into other places in the narrative. As readers are shuffled about, they learn that the king has built his castle upon the backs of a herd of goats—for what is sturdier than a goat?—only for one to escape, thus setting in motion a series of unexpected events that Bernadette (the caring goatherd) determines to face with bravery. Throughout this clever tale, Stead contributes finely lined and crosshatched illustrations that play to its humor and absurdities. These qualities will delight fans of Matt Phelan’s Knights Vs. books, while the underlying warmheartedness, sturdy as a goat, and Stead’s storytelling aplomb will resonate with Kate DiCamillo devotees. —Booklist Reviews (starred review)
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