ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
INTERMEDIATE FICTION
DiCamillo, Kate

The Puppets of Spelhorst

160 pp. | Candlewick | October, 2023 | Trade ISBN 9781536216752 $17.99
(1) 4-6 Illustrated by Julie Morstad. An aged sea captain dies, leaving a chest containing five puppets. After some trials and adventures, the puppets--boy, girl, king, owl, and wolf--end up in the grand home of a pair of sisters and fulfill their theatrical destiny by appearing in a play written by one of the girls. The frame story of this absorbing book of nested tales involves the sea captain and his history of unfulfilled love. Within that story is a chronicle of the puppets and the sisters, and within that narrative is the puppet play itself, which features a young man tragically cursed to a life of loneliness and despair. The story ends with a servant stealing the puppets and running away, presumably to fulfill her own destiny. Like many other stories featuring toys, from Hitty to The Mouse and His Child4, there is a strain of melancholy here, with characters who long for autonomy but whose existence is dependent on the imaginations of others. This mood is perfectly captured in digitally rendered pencil drawings that add specificity (a Regency-esque setting in fictional Norendy), dignity, drama, and sheer beauty. First in "a projected trio of novellas linked by place and mood."
Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

RELATED 

INTERMEDIATE FICTION

The Republic of Birds
by Miller, Jessica
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Atlantis
by Mone, Gregory
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

It Doesn't Take a Genius
by Rhuday-Perkovich, Olugbemisola
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls
by Rivera, Kaela
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Soul Lanterns
by Kuzki, Shaw
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?