Review By: Anonymous
Published: 2023
Genre(s): Fantasy, Fiction, Fairytale, Adventure, Young Adult, Middle Grade
Audience: Grades 3–6
Content Warnings: Death and grief, loneliness and displacement, slight darkness in tone
Goodreads Link: The Puppets of Spelhorst
Summary:
From master storyteller Kate DiCamillo comes an original fairy tale—with enchanting illustrations by Julie Morstad—in which five puppets confront circumstances beyond their control with patience, cunning, and high spirits.
Shut up in a trunk by a taciturn old sea captain with a secret, five friends—a king, a wolf, a girl, a boy, and an owl—bicker, boast, and comfort one another in the dark. Individually, they dream of song and light, freedom and flight, purpose and glory, but they all agree they are part of a larger story, bound each to each by chance, bonded by the heart’s mysteries. When at last their shared fate arrives, landing them on a mantel in a blue room in the home of two little girls, the truth is more astonishing than any of them could have imagined. A beloved author of modern classics draws on her most moving themes with humor, heart, and wisdom in the first of the Norendy Tales, a projected trio of novellas linked by place and mood, each illustrated in black and white by a different virtuoso illustrator. A magical and beautifully packaged gift volume designed to be read aloud and shared, The Puppets of Spelhorst is a tale that soothes and strengthens us on our journey, leading us through whatever dark forest we find ourselves in.
Review:
Five puppets, a King, a boy, a girl, a Wolf and an Owl, find themselves in the hands of an old Sea Captain after they were purchased from a tailor shop that he lived above. That night after having company of the puppets, he died. The tailor shop owner collected and sold the puppets to a man who gifted them to his nieces. Each puppet shares their point of view. They can think and speak to each other, but not move. Each has something that they are proud of. For example the King feels extremely noble and that he should have power, the wolf is in awe of his sharp teeth and often brags about how sharp they are. The puppets also have an individualized dream, for example the owl to fly, the girl to sing, the boy to do something amazing. The puppets get separated, yet fate brings them back together. Emma, one of the nieces creates a play that she puts on with the help of her sister Martha and their maid Jane. This play is fulfilling to each of the puppets without the girls knowing. The audience the girls perform for are captivated by the creativity and story. After the puppet show and the positive praise, Jane decides to leave and takes the puppets with her. The book ends with the girls as older women, reminiscing of the puppets and the show, hoping that Jane shared them with the world.
I thought this book was cute. I liked that you got the perspective from each character in the story. They each seemed to be pretty confident in themselves. I wasn’t a fan when the owl, wolf and boy got separated from the pack and randomly discovered. I thought that part was far fetched, even though the genre is a fairytale. I liked how the girls created a puppet show to put on, this is something I would do as a child, not so much a puppet show, but putting on shows for family. I think young readers can relate to this. The ending leaves you wondering what happened. I found myself questioning why did Jane leave and take the puppets, what were her intentions? Overall I thought the book was unique and that young readers would enjoy it. Kids that enjoy fantasy and fairytales would enjoy this book the most.
Some themes were be open minded, never give up on your dreams, personal growth, friendship and the power of imagination.
There are some illustrations. These illustrations are simplistic and in black and white. The illustrations suggest this book takes place a long time ago, as they are not as animated or AI like children are used to seeing today. The illustrations help readers comprehend the text more and get a visual of what each character looks like, as well as the setting.
I think some kids would pick up this book based on the cover. The cover shows the five puppets. Looking at the cover you would not know that they are puppets. The simplistic illustrations of the puppets kind of look like anime, which might be intriguing for some kids. Kids that like animals will see the wolf and owl and that may hook them in. Some may wonder what the title means. At first I thought Spelhorst was going to be some fantasy land the puppets came from.
You could connect this book to ELA and teach perspective, point of view, theme, character change, character development, problem/solution, creative writing, character traits, comparing and contrasting characters.
Some activities kids could do are create their own play, create their own puppet, put on a play with their classmates, write a sequel to what Jane does with the puppet, write about what puppet they connect the most to and why, write a postcard to the girls from Jane saying what she did with the puppets and why she left or they could create an additional character that was in the storybook.
There is not much diversity in the book title.
I have also read Because of Winn Dixie and Hotel Balzaar by the author Kate DiCamillo.
