34
I read this book as a child, and went searching for it. I was not disappointed in the second reading as an adult. The illustrations by Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) are black and white sketches, but cute and humorous and lend to the story. His style is not “pretty” but it is interesting and detailed. This hardback edition comes with a fabric casing and a paper illustrated slipcover. MacDonald is a master classic storyteller, and this fairy tale is no different.
The story is of a princess who is cursed at birth to have no gravity. She only finds her gravity when swimming in the lake behind her parents’ castle, until one day when she is a young woman, the lake begins to sink and all other water supplies in the country, including rain, dry up. A hero is required at this point to sacrifice his life to staunch the dissapation of the water. I’ll leave the rest of the story to your discovery! McDonald writes in a quircky but intelligble style almost old English at times in his verbage. Keep a dictionary on hand for words you don’t know! (a few per chapter, not overwheleming). This is a short “chapter book” intended for readers probably third grade to junior high. This may be my favorite of MacDonald’s children’s books.