Igraine the brave

Igraine the brave / Cornelia Funke with illustrations by the author ; translated by Anthea Bell.— New York : Chicken House; Scholastic, 2007.

212 p. : ill. ; 21 cm.

ISBN: 978-0-439-90379-0

1. Fantasy fiction. 2. Knights and knighthood -- Fiction.

833.914

Unlike her parents or her annoying older brother, Igraine has no interest in becoming a magician. Let the rest of them spend their time in the castle learning spells, she has her heart set on becoming a knight. Chivalry is much more exciting than sorcery. So she’s delighted to receive an enchanted, non-squeaking, waterproof suit of armor for her twelfth birthday. Unfortunately, in the process of conjuring it up her parents accidentally turned themselves into swine and are no longer able to work magic. The spell to turn them back is complicated and requires hairs from the head of a giant. Leaving her brother to learn the spell, Igraine sets off on a quest for giant’s hair.

Igraine the brave is adventurous fun told in a light-hearted vein for younger readers. The villains behave badly, but there is none of the malicious brooding evil of the author’s Inkheart series for older readers in this tale. It’s a story populated by talking cats, playful mice, singing books, a helpful, if somewhat dense, giants, and adults that are ready to aid the spunky heroine in her quest.