Title: The Crystal Palace: Rescue of the Baby Fairy Prince
Author: Michele Hauser
Illustrator: Karina Nance
Publisher: Outskirts Press
ISBN: 9781432711573
Pages: 339
Genre: Children’s Fiction / Fantasy
Reviewed by: Lily Amanda
Hollywood Book Reviews
The Crystal Palace is a glittering and well-imagined trilogy that cleverly intertwines the tangible and the invisible through vivid world-building. The three volumes are penned by Michele Hauser with the help of her nine-year-old granddaughter who is the illustrator and also the main character in the story.
In the first book, The Crystal Palace: Rescue of the Baby Fairy Prince, Michele Hauser sets the pace of her charming trilogy as she introduces us to a world of fairy folk: brownies, fairies, leprechauns, elves, and trolls. When Karina invites her two friends, Nicole and Katie to her grandma’s place for a sleepover, they have no idea of the magical adventure which awaits them. When Angela, Karina’s grandma’s tooth fairy appears to them through a bedpost crystal, asking for their help, the trio is more than happy to offer their help. Prince Jeremy, the young son of King Sebastian and Queen Serena, rulers of all Fairyland had disappeared. With the help of Angela, they travel through a portal, and upon getting to the fairies’ kingdom, they realize that the task that lay before them was not as simple as they had imagined.
In Book Two, The Crystal Palace: Rebellion in Fairyland, Karina and her two friends travel back to Fairyland after a palace invitation to attend Prince Jeremy’s third birthday party. What was to be a seemingly seamless and thrilling affair for the girls spirals downhill when the celebrations are interrupted by trolls and ogres, considered low-ranking vagrants in the fairy kingdom. In the chaos, the girls are kidnapped, throwing them into the labyrinth of the unjust social justice system in the place that seemed unlikely in this-Fairyland.
In Book Three, a continuation of the second, the three girls long to go back to fairyland as they missed their fairy friends and wanted to experience the effectiveness of the Magna Carta they helped implement. With the help of Angela, Karina’s grandma’s tooth fairy, the girls are transported back to Crystalopolis where an evil Sorcerer hatches a wicked plan meant to disgrace them before the king. Their excitement is further clipped when Fairyland is attacked by an unforeseen foe commanding a large troop of insects. Will they make it back home alive?
Hauser packs a punch with her three books. Rich character development, brisk prose, and a stunning examination of folklore mark up this literary work of fiction. She carefully cultivates a consistency in her three books shifting between what readers already know from the first book, with surprise elements, and it all culminates into a satisfying triune. I liked how all the characters were given a decent send-off as the three books came to a close, an aspect I found to be most appealing. The plot is not rushed nor dialogue-heavy and ample action scenes along with narrative suspense keep the story moving.
What readers will find here is so strikingly consumable that I found myself reading the book in a day. For its intended audience, the author uses lively and accessible language to capture abstract concepts such as empathy, courage, teamwork, and the value of family in the most eminent form. The Crystal Palace has a sense of wonder in it that even an attention-wandering child will find hard to ignore. The book can be read in parts or as a whole. Altogether, it’s a text which offers more than just surface narrative and instead goes further to empower and inspire them to be instruments of change around them.
The Crystal Palace: Rescue of the Baby Fairy Prince is a thoroughly enjoyable fantasy adventure for children. It’s a perfect choice for young readers who enjoy stories about bravery, friendship, magic and the power to make a difference.