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George MacDonald

The Princess and the Goblin (Puffin Classics) Paperback – Illustrated, June 9, 2011

by George MacDonald (Author), Ursula K. Le Guin (Introduction)

4.6 1,311 ratings

Book 1 of 2: Princess Irene and Curdie

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Princess Irene lives in a castle in a wild and lonely mountainous region. One day she discovers a steep and winding stairway leading to a bewildering labyrinth of unused passages with closed doors - and a further stairway. What lies at the top? Can the ring the princess is given protect her against the lurking menace of the boglins from under the mountain?

Reading age

5 - 12 years, from customers
Book 1 of 2

Princess Irene and Curdie
Print length

256 pages
Language

English
Grade level

5 - 6
Lexile measure

1030L
Dimensions

0.9 x 5 x 6.9 inches
Publisher

Puffin Books
Publication date

June 9, 2011
ISBN-10

0141332484
ISBN-13

978-0141332482
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About the Author

Ursula Le Guin was born in Berkley, California, in 1929, daughter of the writer Theodora Krober and the anthropologist Alfred Krober. Her published work includes twenty-one novels, eleven volumes of short stories, three collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation. Among her novels are the The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, both winners of the Nebula and Hugo awards, Always Coming Home, winner of the 1985 Kafka Award, and Four Ways to Forgiveness. In 2009 she won her sixth Nebula award for Powers. Penguin/Puffin published the first volume of the Earthsea books, A Wizard of Earthsea, in 1971. The Earthsea books have been translated into many languages around the world and are global bestsellers.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

CHAPTER 1

Why the Princess Has a Story about Her

There was once a little princess whose father was king over a great country full of mountains and valleys. His palace was built upon one of the mountains and was very grand and beautiful. The princess, whose name was Irene, was born there, but she was sent soon after her birth, because her mother was not very strong, to be brought up by country people in a large house, half castle, half farmhouse, on the side of another mountain, about halfway between its base and its peak.

The princess was a sweet little creature and at the time my story begins was about eight years old, I think, but she got older very fast. Her face was fair and pretty, with eyes like two bits of night sky, each with a star dissolved in the blue. Those eyes, you would have thought, must have known they came from there, so often were they turned up in that direction. The ceiling of her nursery was blue with stars in it, as like the sky as they could make it. But I doubt if ever she saw the real sky with the stars in it, for a reason, which I had better mention at once.

These mountains were full of hollow places underneath, huge caverns and winding ways, some with water running through them and some shining with all colors of the rainbow when a light was taken in. There would not have been much known about them had there not been mines there, great deep pits, with long galleries and passages running off from them, which had been dug to get at the ore of which the mountains were full. In the course of digging the miners came upon many of these natural caverns. A few of them had far-off openings out on the side of a mountain or into a ravine.

Now in these subterranean caverns lived a strange race of beings, called by some gnomes, by some kobolds, by some goblins. There was a legend current in the country that at one time they lived above ground and were very like other people. But for some reason or other, concerning which there were different legendary theories, the king had laid what they thought too severe taxes upon them, or required observances of them they did not like, or had begun to treat them with more severity in some way or other, and to impose stricter laws; and the consequence was that they had all disappeared from the face of the country. According to the legend, however, instead of going to some other country they had all taken refuge in the subterranean caverns, whence they never came out but at night, and then seldom showed themselves in any numbers and never to many people at once. It was only in the least frequented and most difficult parts of the mountains that they were said to gather, even at night in the open air. Those who had caught sight of any of them said that they had greatly altered in the course of generations; and no wonder, seeing they lived away from the sun, in cold and wet and dark places. They were now, not ordinarily ugly, but either absolutely hideous or ludicrously grotesque both in face and form. There was no invention, they said, of the most lawless imagination expressed by pen or pencil, that could surpass the extravagance of their appearance. And as they grew misshapen in body, they had grown in knowledge and cleverness and now were able to do things no mortal could see the possibility of. But as they grew in cunning, they grew in mischief, and their great delight was in every way they could think of to annoy the people who lived in the open-air story above them. They had enough of affection left for each other to preserve them from being absolutely cruel for cruelty's sake to those that came in their way; but still they so heartily cherished the ancestral grudge against those who occupied their former possession, and especially against the descendants of the king who had caused their expulsion, that they sought every opportunity of tormenting them in ways that were as odd as their inventors; and although dwarfed and misshapen, they had strength equal to their cunning. In the process of time they had got a king and a government of their own, whose chief business, beyond their own simple affairs, was to devise trouble for their neighbors. It will now be pretty evident why the little princess had never seen the sky at night. They were much too afraid of the goblins to let her out of the house then, even in company with ever so many attendants; and they had good reason, as we shall see by and by.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Puffin Books; Illustrated edition (June 9, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0141332484
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0141332482
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 5 - 12 years, from customers
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1030L
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 5 - 6
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.1 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.9 x 5 x 6.9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #10,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #76 in Children's Spine-Chilling Horror
- #256 in Children's Classics
- #410 in Children's Fantasy & Magic Books

Customer Reviews:
4.6 1,311 ratings

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4.6 out of 5

1,311 global ratings

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TV Viewer and Reader ;Linda

The Princess and the Goblin retold for modern readers is quite an adventure

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 30, 2023

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This is a fun fantasy tale originally written by George MacDonald many years ago. It's the tale of young Princess Irene and a young miner named Curdie. There are grotesque goblins causing trouble. Curdie is very brave and Irene saves the day. This tale is fun reading for any age. I have recommended it to my 10 yr old granddaughter. It should be interesting to compare notes between our generations. I am about to begin the 2nd book in this 2 book series. Happy Reading!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 10, 2005

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The story takes place in a land where men rule during the day, but the night is ruled by goblins and their creatures. Goblins used to live among men in the open air but they didn't like to pay taxes so they went underground and disappeared it seemed from the world of men all together. There living in dampness and without light the goblins changed in mind and body until they became short grotesque creatures who hated all men, especially the King and his descendants.

Years later the good King who ruled the land at the time of this story had an eight year old daughter named Princess Irene. It is mentioned that Irene's mother was very sick when she was born, but since she isn't mentioned at all any further in the story it might be implied that she died. Since her King-Papa, who loved her very much, was constantly away traveling looking after his kingdom, he had to leave Irene in the care of a nurse named Lootie in a small castle, and provided her with all the amenities she would need to be looked after. He then would come to visit her there often on his travels with an accompaniment of his men at arms.

One rainy day when the princess was bored she decided to go exploring the old castle by herself and discovers a stairway leading up to a hidden level of the house. There she meets her mysterious Great-Great-Grandmother Irene (whom she was named after) secretly living in the house. Her Grandmother has many magical powers and gives Irene a few small gifts to help protect her from harm. Her Grandmother also has the power to only let people find or see her whom she wishes to, so when Irene returns to her nurse, nobody believes her when she tells them about her Great-Great-Grandmother.

Several days later when the sun finally comes out Irene has Looty take her for a long walk in the mountains to enjoy the fresh air and loses track of time. When darkness starts to fall the nurse panics and tries to rush the princess home but it won't be in time before the sun is going to set. No one has seen a goblin in years, but they still fear being out at night just in case.

On the way they meet a brave little twelve year old boy named Curdie who was on his way home from working in the mines all day with his father Peter, and he escorts them home. From working in the mines Curdie has learned all the old ways to protect yourself from goblins so he doesn't fear them. He tells the Princess and Looty that he believes goblins will leave you alone if you aren't afraid of them, and that more than anything else they hate to hear rhymes. So all the way home he sings rhymes out loud to scare away any stray goblins. Irene promises him a kiss as a thank you for his troubles but Looty puts it off for a later time.

The story then takes us back to Curdie's humble house where we meet his loving mother and father. Curdie is trying to save money to buy his mother a new coat for the winter, so the next few days he stays late in the mine and does some overtime work. During the night he discovers a family of goblins and by spying on them overhears part of a plan the King of the Goblins was working on to kidnap the Princess and to get rid of all of the miners.

In order to discover the rest of their plan however, on the subsequent nights Curdie with his pick axe and a hand full of new rhymes has to sneak further into goblin territory. Not only does he risk having to fight off all the goblins and their pets if he is discovered, but if he loses his way he could be lost forever in the many caverns. By the time he does finds the King and Queen of the Goblins along with their son Prince Hairlip, and discovers the rest of their plan along with another of their vulnerabilities, he is so far gone into their territory that it looks like he may never make it home again unless he receives a lot of outside help.

The Princess then proves to be just as brave as Curdie and comes to his rescue. Together with the magical powers of the Princess's Great-Great-Grandmother it all leads up to a great battle between the men and goblins.

McDonald showed a lot of imagination in writing this great adventure. I'm sure my girl's who are eight and six will love it.

The illustrations by Arthur Hughes were very good, but the goblins look more like silly little gnomes in his pictures rather than the grotesque creatures described in the book. I guess they wanted to scare the children who were reading the book, but just not that much.

16 people found this helpful

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It is a quaint read that will be a lovely addition to any family library.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 19, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is a small, but noteworthy tale. I will be keeping this review on the lighter side and encourage you to explore the story on your own.

“Seeing is not believing – it is only seeing.”

Having been originally published in 1872, I admit that I began with some trepidation. Even as an avid fan of fairy tales, I am no stranger to the challenges of reading older work. It can be easy to find yourself lost among the dated language and styles of writing. But that simply was not the case here. I welcomed the surprise of discovering that even now, this endearing story still seems to read with a certain ease and fluidity that I appreciated.

The Princess and the Goblin was not the complex, exciting sort of read we have come to expect from today’s fantasy but there was much to be admired within its simple magic and charming characters. This felt like a visit down memory lane of what I imagine must be the earlier roots or at least notable influences of the fantasy genre we have come to love presently.

“People must believe what they can, and those who believe more must not be hard upon those who believe less. I doubt if you would have believed it all yourself if you hadn’t seen some of it.”

And of course, no fairy tale is complete with a moral lesson tucked within the pages. Here we learn the importance of having faith and “The Golden Rule”. Presented through a cast that includes a lively and adventurous princess, a kind miner boy and a mysterious grandmother, all elements come together successfully in a small tale that leaves a lasting impression.

I recommend picking this up if you are a fan of fairy tales, as I feel it truly encompasses the essence of the genre. I regret not having stumbled upon this sooner so that I might have read it aloud with my own children. It is a quaint read that will be a lovely addition to any family library.

13 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

loveLBH

Good book

Reviewed in Japan 🇯🇵 on November 8, 2014

Verified Purchase

I like this book and I read this book again and again. My children like this book, too. For the first time, I read it in Japanese, but gradually I got wanted to read it in English, so I bought it. Both books were good, and it was easy to read in English. I could understand the princess` polite attitude toward her great great grandmother. And reading the great great grandmother`s words, I felt her kindness and love to the princess.

2 people found this helpful

Silver Moon Sailor

An imaginative original

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 19, 2010

Verified Purchase

I just found this book for the first time. It has clearly been very influential on many important people - not just Tolkien, CS Lewis and probably JK Rowling but the voice of the nurse is clearly who the actress in Blackadder II modelled hers on!

The non-specificity of the location is masterful. European and mountainous, not English, maybe Scottish or... and that sets the scene for the other necessary breaches of the laws of physics and geography. It is a truly magical read, scary at times but always knowing that there is a fairy grandmother in the background and an honest hero in Curdie who will save the day.

The langage is very accessible and if it is slightly dated that only adds to the charm of the piece. The tone is kindly, humourous and direct. His words draw pictures so bright I wish I could draw. I felt like I was sitting on George Macdonald's knee spellbound as he read in his soft Highland accent so long ago.... I am off to soak up some more of his marvels.

10 people found this helpful

L. Burgoyne

Exciting classic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 24, 2012

Verified Purchase

I first got this book out on cassette from the local library as a child. I loved it so much I got it out repeatedly and eventually, as an adult, bought it. The princess is a likeable heroine and Curdie, the boy who helps her is funny and believable. The nurse and Curdie's mother and lovable and the goblins are duly terrifying. The tale is full of excitement and fantasy and ideals of striving forth and courageously facing your fears. Despite being written over a century ago the books is just as relevant today and the writing is completely accessible.

Apples

Childhood remembered

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 29, 2013

Verified Purchase

I bought this to read myself and see if it was as good as I rembered from childhood especially as I wanted one as a sunday school prize. This copy interested me in particular as it was a facsimilie. It did warned there might be the odd missing word or poor print becuase of the method of reproduction. But there amounted to about two or three flaws. So I was well satisfied with the re-read and quality of the book. Well worth purchasing for children who can read well up to 11 years.

One person found this helpful

David Greenshields

It’s first rate!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 30, 2022

Verified Purchase

I’m eight like Irene. I liked that Irene has a cool adventure.

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