Review Detail

THE WICKED WOOD is a charming new installment in the PRINCESS MINNA series. Minna wakes up to find her mother, father, and dragon Lorenzo missing. They seem to have disappeared into the Wicked Wood. Minna is too afraid to go into the woods to save them. Luckily, some of her other friends volunteer, but when they go missing too, Minna has no choice but to go in and save everyone. However, what she finds is a group of people that don't need saving - the Wicked Witch is not so wicked, and the scary trees are actually quite friendly. They end the day by returning home.

What I loved: Princess Minna is always brave and courageous, and this book shows her tackling her fear of the unknown woods to help her friends and family. The wickedness of the wood and the creatures who live therein was incorrect, and this misconception is corrected with lessons about not making assumptions and getting to know more about things you are scared of.

The writing is great for budding independent readers. The book feels like an extended picture book with full page color illustrations and limited text on each spread. The words are large, easy to read, and sentences are kept simple. The images really add to the story and bring the characters to life throughout, and the choice of color is fantastic, keeping each page bright and fun to visually explore.

What left me wanting more: The poor Wicked Witch (who is actually quite kind) keeps getting her house eaten. There is no help for her house or way given to make things right, especially by the royalty who are eating it (maybe some darker themes there). While they are all happy and with full bellies, they ate a whole 2-car garage and took pieces out of this witch's house without any help to make it right - not a great lesson there.

Final verdict: THE WICKED WOOD is an overall charming chapter book with themes of bravery and friendship that will work well for budding independent readers during spooky season.