Book 166: King Puck

King Puck, by Michael Garland, HarperCollins 2007.  Preschool to Early Elementary.

If you have not read King Puck by Michael Garland for St. Patrick's Day, you need to do yourself a favor and read it.  It is such a sweet, gentle, beautiful tale.  Here is how it starts:

"Ah, Finny," Seamus said to his goat, "we're so lucky.  Our mountain is the most beautiful in all of Ireland."

It was beautiful, but it was lonely.  Only the wee fairies lived nearby.  Seamus had no one to talk to but his goat!

And that is how you set up a modern-day fairy tale.  The best goat in Ireland is crowned King Puck.  Finny is not the biggest, the strongest or the prettiest goat.  The judges scarcely notice him.  And yet, he is the best.

Michael Garland's artwork is just as enchanting as the story:  Sweet, gentle and beautiful.  In short, perfect.