The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns
Acceptable with guidance. Age: 10+. A Catholic review of this book for parents.
Our review
The heart of the book is good: Alex defeats the Enchantress not with the wand but by apologizing and refusing to hate, and Rumpelstiltskin dies to save her. Courage, sacrifice and forgiveness carry the plot. Two reservations for an eight-year-old reader: Mother Goose is a comic drunk with a flask and a bawdy rhyme, and God's name is tossed off as an exclamation. Fantasy magic stays in the Oz mode.
For parents
Read-aloud from 8, independent reading from 10, matching Plugged In's age. Ask: why did saying sorry do what a magic wand could not? What did Rumpelstiltskin's death cost and buy? Name the Mother Goose drinking jokes for what they are. CCC 2146 covers using God's name lightly.