The Goose Girl (Books of Bayern)
Review by Welly-Bell, Age 7
Crown Princess Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee is princess of Kildenree. She can talk to birds. She is traveling with fifty guards and the key-mistress' daughter, Selia. On the way to Bayern, Selia and most of the guards betray Ani.
They try to kill Ani, but she escapes. After a few days of wandering in the forest, Ani finds a little cottage.
Gilsa and Finn live in the cottage. Ani helps them with the chickens and goats in exchange for a bed and food. Ani goes to the city with Finn.
On market day, Ani goes to see the King. She realizes she is going to have to come back. The King gives her work in the geese pen with Conrad.
Conrad is grumpy most of the time. Enna and Razo and Beier and some others also work there.
Princess Selia tells the King that Kildenree is planning to attack Bayern.
Read the book and find out what happens to Ani. Some of the characters I really like are Enna, Gilsa, and Finn.
***Check out my interview with Shannon Hale here!
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By: Chris Rettstatt,
on 3/29/2008
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The other book I was pulling for in deliberations for this year’s Cybils award was Book of a Thousand Days, by Shannon Hale. For me, this book was all about the details: the grit of daily life in the tower, the details of Dashti’s previous life on the steppes, the relentless believability that ran from the first page to the last. It was a fantastic story, and I’m so glad it was one of the two winners in the fantasy / science fiction category.
Shannon has two young children, and so I promised to keep the interview short.
Chris) How did you go about researching Mongolian culture for Book of a Thousand Days?
Shannon: My parents lived in Mongolia for a year and a half, so I had some great first hand knowledge, and I sent questions for their Mongolian friends. i also read books, especially the fantastic Ghengis Khan and the Making of the Modern World.
Chris) In Book of a Thousand Days, how satisfying was it to heap so much hardship on a fairytale princess?
Shannon: Ha! Yes, there was some of that. I wanted to make sure I was being honest, and fairy tales sometimes slant things in favor of the well-born. One attraction of this story for me was its difference from Goose Girl–a chance to see a maid’s POV and hear her voice.
Chris) As a father of 7-month-old twin girls, I have to ask: how the heck do you get any writing done? (I’ve finally learned to hold one on my lap while I’m typing, but the problem is she starts typing too).
Shannon: I don’t actually write anymore. I bid on manuscripts on ebay and hope I win. No, it’s all a balancing act. I take a little time here and there. No waiting for a muse–grab whatever time I can! And I’ve slowed way down. I get into more detail about that on my site: http://www.squeetus.com/stage/mince_mother.html
Chris) What are you working on now?
Shannon: My husband and I co-wrote a graphic novel for young readers, Rapunzel’s Revenge, which will be out this fall (the illustrations are so freakin’ cool). I’m working on a fourth Bayern book and a new contemporary book for adults.
Great review! This is one of my favorite books and I am reading Book of a Thousand Days to my big girls right now!!
Not sure how I missed your interview with Shannon Hale, but I'm totally jealous! She is one of my favorite authors. I love that Jerusha Hess directed Austenland and that Stephanie Meyer was one of the producers. I'm also totally jealous that those three had a girls' weekend!! How fun would that have been?!?!