Annie DaltonAnmeldelser

Eight folk and fairy-tales featuring princesses from around the world are gathered in this lovely collection from author Annie Dalton and fabric artist and illustrator Belinda Downes. The selections include:

The Princess and the Pea, a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's classic Danish tale, in which a young woman's true royal status is determined by the delicacy of her skin, and her ability to sleep on a pea. This is a story retold countless times, in many different forms. My favorite picture book version is the one illustrated by Dorothée Duntze.

The Frog Princess, in which Prince Ivan finds himself married to a kind-hearted and very clever frog bride, who fulfills all of her father-in-law's demands, and is eventually revealed as Vassilissa the Wise. This traditional Russian tale has been retold in picture book form a number times, including in the beautiful edition done by J. Patrick Lewis and Gennady Spirin, and the fabulous one illustrated by Ivan Bilibin.

King Grizzlebeard, a Brothers Grimm tale in which a too-clever princess finds herself married to a musician and reduced to poverty after her rudeness to all of her suitors. Fortunately for her, her new husband is not all that he seems. I have more commonly seen this story translated as either "King Thrushbeard" or "King Grisly-Beard." Another retelling can be found in Shirley Climo's collection, A Treasury of Princesses: Princess Tales from Around the World.

The Starlight Princess, an Indian folktale about a beautiful Rajah's daughter who emits the light of stars, and how she is won by a brave Rajah's son, who possesses the ability to speak to animals. I was not familiar with this tale, which is apparently an adaptation of a story entitled How the Rajah's Son Won the Princess Laba'm, to be found in the 1879 collection, Indian Fairy Tales, by Maive S.H. Stokes. Although new to me, some of the story elements here—the hero who aids a series of animals, who aid him in return—were quite familiar, as they appear in many such tales.

The Sleeping Beauty, the celebrated French fairy-tale from Charles Perrault, in which a beautiful young princess is cursed by a vengeful fairy, and falls into a hundred-year sleep after pricking her finger on a spinning wheel, only to be awakened by the prince her is her true love. Retellings of this story abound! Two of my absolute favorites are those illustrated by Kinuko Craft and by Trina Schart Hyman.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses, another classic tale from the Brothers Grimm, in which the eponymous princesses dance their shoes to tatters every night, much to the consternation of their father. An injured soldier, down on his luck, is the one who solves the riddle, and wins the hand of the princess of his choice. Here again retellings abound, with favorites including those illustrated by Kinuko Craft, Dorothée Duntze and Ruth Sanderson.

The Egg Prince, a Bantu tale from Zimbabwe, in which Princess Lebou is engaged to a magical egg, given to her future father-in-law by his dying wife, and containing a true prince. With the help of her father's magic, Lebou ensures that this egg becomes the prince it is meant to be. This story, with which I was unfamiliar, and which I found rather creepy, was originally collected in the 1921 Specimens of Bantu Folklore by Father J. Torrend.

White-Bear-King-Valemon, a Norwegian folktale in which a princess dreams of an extraordinary golden crown, eventually marrying the white bear which possesses said crown. Eventually falling in love with her husband, the princess disregards his warning, and gazes upon him in the night, thereby setting in motion a curse which necessitates her pursuit of him, through many trials. Quite similar to the better-known East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon, this story has been retold (in a form combined with two other tales) in Tanya Robyn Batt & Nicoletta Ceccoli's The Princess and the White Bear King.

I found The Starlight Princess and Other Princess Stories to be an absolute delight. Annie Dalton's retellings were engaging, and fun to read, while Belinda Downe's embroidered illustrations were just beautiful. I appreciated the foreword from Downes, describing her method, and the materials she used in creating these visuals, and I enjoyed poring over the illustrations themselves. This is definitely one I would recommend to young folk and fairy-tale lovers, particularly those who enjoy princess stories. From a thematic perspective, it could pair very nicely with the Climo collection mentioned above, A Treasury of Princesses: Princess Tales from Around the World, and from an aesthetic perspective, it would make a good companion to Tanya Robyn Batt's The Fabrics of Fairytale: Stories Spun from Far and Wide, which also features fabric-art illustrations.

This is much more a cozy mystery than a thriller. With the exception of the ending, nothing very exciting happens. There is far too much time spent on the main character's wardrobe and her romantic difficulties.

dogs, first-in-series, stabbing, oxford-england, survivor-s-guilt, thriller, murder, murder-investigation, secrets, law-enforcement, family, famous-author, friendship, romantic, amateur-sleuth, cozy-mystery, unputdownable

A brutal murder brought three strangers with dogs together. Three differently damaged women have questions. Was the woman they all briefly knew murdered as part of a serial killer's plan or was it a one-off using the serial aspect to hide guilt. The next death is related, but the question in this case is was it really suicide by a terminally ill man or was it murder. The plot is tight and realistic complete with some surprising red herrings and twists, the characters are so very well done and engaging. I really liked it and will hunt down the next!

5/5. This was definitely my favourite book in the series so far :)

In The Starlight Princess and Other Princess Stories, Annie Dalton has gathered together stories from various backgrounds, including "The Starlight Princess" from India, "The Egg Prince" from Zimbabwe, and "White-Bear-King Valemon" from Norway amid some of the better known faery tales. As enjoyable as Annie Dalton's retellings are, however, it is Belinda Downes' needlepoint illustrations that make the book really stand out. Her embroideries are richly textured and vividly colored, each story rendered unique by Downes' careful attention to the characters' fashions and settings. Notes about the illustrations and the stories themselves add just the right finishing touch to this excellent fairy tale collection.

The White Shepherd has an evocative Oxford setting and an extremely strong cast of characters. Anna is very self-contained and has purposely shut herself off from forming relationships due to severe trauma in her childhood. She realizes that she needs to make friends, but it certainly doesn't come naturally to her, as readers see through her attempts with fellow dog walkers Isadora and Tansy (who are every bit as interesting as Anna).

Anna has developed a good rapport with her white shepherd, Bonnie, who also has an unusual history, and there's even a budding romance or two for her. See what happens when she decides to come out of her shell?

The White Shepherd is a case of a vivid setting and a wonderful cast of characters being let down by a weak story. Read The White Shepherd to acquaint yourself with the characters because the story is much too predictable. I'm hoping that the second book in the series, Written in Red, will be different.

The kind of book I always look for: smart, well-written, gripping, emotionally sophisticated, believable and with a dog in it. The characters are compelling and the portrayal of a PTSD sufferer is realistic and the mitigation is healthy. The Oxford backdrop was fascinating, with mentions of Tolkien and Narnia. I didn't want the book to end and I can't wait for the next ones!

Award-winning author Annie Dalton is best known for her popular children’s and YA novels that include the very popular Agent Angel a.k.a. Angel Academy YA series. Luckily for us she’s decided to branch out into adult fiction with a new mystery series based on a dog walker in Oxford, Anna Hopkins. The White Shepherd is Book #1 in that series and, if it’s any example of what’s to come, I think she’s got a winner on her hands. Now I must admit that I’ve loved dogs (and pretty much all animals) since I was a toddler so I may be just a tad biased when it comes to novels that feature dog characters. But even without the dog, I’d like this mystery and its realistic main character. See what you think at http://popcornreads.com/?p=8774

Molly is saddled with a moronic older brother, a games freak younger brother and an imagination that is belied by her too sensible face and red hair. When she writes a mock advert for 'Quests undertaken', she doesn't realise that she will soon be thrust into an age old feud as she is chosen to care for Floris.


Annie Dalton writes eloquently and with beauty. Out of the ordinary draws you into Molly's life, filled with her mother's fosterlings and into the magical world that she is drawn into. The prose moves along with an almost dreamlike quality and the characters make you laugh and cry with them. A must read for any fan of the slightly surreal.

Molly is saddled with a moronic older brother, a games freak younger brother and an imagination that is belied by her too sensible face and red hair. When she writes a mock advert for 'Quests undertaken', she doesn't realise that she will soon be thrust into an age old feud as she is chosen to care for Floris.


Annie Dalton writes eloquently and with beauty. Out of the ordinary draws you into Molly's life, filled with her mother's fosterlings and into the magical world that she is drawn into. The prose moves along with an almost dreamlike quality and the characters make you laugh and cry with them. A must read for any fan of the slightly surreal.

This is a charming story that I enjoyed reading. My nine year old daughter also loved it.

Rarely am I ever really disappointed with a book I read. Not all of them are stellar, but in most cases, I can say that they were at least decent reads. This book was not. It left something to be desired. It just seemed kind of pointless to me. There was no meeting between the mother and the daughter, and there were other random plot lines that seemed to be more central than what was supposed to be the "main" plot line. After all, this book is supposed to be about a girl and her birth mother and the "invisible threads" that tie them together. There didn't seem to be much of a connection between them at all, actually. It was more like the different stories of two random girls who don't know each other at all, but they share the same DNA and that part of the theme is never properly covered. Plus, the guy-girl relationships in the daughter's story with her friends are kind of messed up for no real reason. Overall, I'd say it isn't worth the time.½

This book had many stories within it. There were eight different fairytales with different princesses. The princesses were from Africa, Europe, and Asia. Different historical periods and cultures were brought into light. I loved the images. They were very fair and and the colors blended and meshed well with the scenery. They didn't even look like your aveage princesses either, not the ones were used to with a crown and jewels. They were deffinately unique images.

Lovely little book. Sweet and heartwarming. Very short - probably for younger children as opposed to older ones like the books I usually read. Came across it by accident because a friend asked for it, but it seemed like a nice read and didn't disappoint. If you're looking for a cute, short, happy read this will do nicely.

Annie Dalton has written some quite good YA fantasies. This isn't one of them.½

A collection of fairy tales about princesses.

Belinda Downes' work is magical.

Isabel wants to be a boy so that she can have everything they have, but when she gets her chance to pretend to be one, it isn't all that she imagines. She discovers that as a girl she can find her place doing something meaningful in the world. She finds new strength to help her family and discovers that what seem like tragedies can be opportunities.

Hands down the greatest book I've ever read!

Tons of fun to read! She (Annie) captures your attention! The book is filled with adventure and attitude.

- Carly T.

A hole in the ozone layer, extinct species, dolphins in tuna nets...Tilly can't bear to hear any more about how we are destroying our world. If only she could meet some future people who would tell her what to do.

I really quite adore this series - it stands out from the many other girls series around, and has many more levels than you expect.

Mel Beeby is back again and for the first time is called as a guardian angel. She travels to 1920s USA to look after a somewhat sulky girl who's about to go through some really bad experiences.

Mel is still learning about being an angel, and she's definately not a 'perfect' character. A good read for 8 to 12 year olds, and I love the use of history throughout.

It's difficult to see where this fails to impress. The story isn't bad, two teenagers in a particular city where there are unexplained things occasionally happening. Urban legends seem to point at the thirteenth floor in the Mortagaine House as being somehow the focus of all the strangness. Bee and Dino are curious, interesting and strong teens who visit the floor and then work on seeing what they can do to keep themselves from being sucked into the strange.

Sorry but Diane Wynne Jones does it better and creates a better sense of place and menace I just didn't get quite that sense of tension or other.

From LETTERBOX LIBRARY:

Oscar's family relocate to Planet Nine for a quiet life. But the Cosmic Peace Police need Mum for one last mission. A babysitter comes to the rescue: Ferris Fleet and his magic Wonderwheels. A thoroughly dynamic portrayal of a wheelchair user. Age 8+ Paperback 33pp

Price: £4.99

This is a strange series of books – in this edition going under the series title of Angel's Unlimited (I've seen another series title for this series that I can't remember at the moment). It has everything that a standard modern girls series has – a spunky main character, her best friend (girl), the boy side kick, a love interest, and the scary but ultimately important authority figure.

The difference here is that the main character is dead. In fact, she is an angel.

The angel's in Annie Dalton's world (including Mel, our main character) serve a number of purposes. One thing young angels can do when they are training is join the history club. Here they get to travel to different times and places, lending help in many different ways. The reader follows Mel and her friends through some of these adventures, picking up just enough of the history to interest – to make the reader want to go out and read more.

The three books travel to different times. In Winging It, Mel heads off to London during the Blitz. In Losing the Plot, she is asked to look after a young man who turns out to be William Shakespeare. In Flying High she travels with the Children's Crusades, before going forward in time.

There are some interesting philosophical questions asked by the books. There is no obvious religion here – Mel answers to the arch angels, but she is also expected to participate in meditation to get things done and to refresh herself. There is no concept of time in this heaven, something which confuses Mel, and which may be explored in future books. And as well as angels like Mel, who were alive and then died, there are pure angels, who were never alive at all.

My one big quibble would be the lack of help Mel was given during the first book – I don't think explanation of where she was from another character would have harmed the story.

All in all a really interesting series – especially with regards to the history aspect.

Kids stuff, fluffy, readable