Review – Horns and Wrinkles by Joseph Helgerson and Nicoletta Ceccoli (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 240 pages
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Release Date: February 18, 2008
ISBN-13: 978-0618981786
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Swapped through Paperbackswap.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

I have had this book for a long time read and was excited to finally read it. A while ago I read Crows and Cards by Helgerson and enjoyed it, that book prompted me to pick up this one. This was a cute and fun read about faerie magic along the Mississippi river.

Claire lives along an odd portion of the Mississippi river and is playing with her bossy bullying cousin Dane when he is cursed. Then his family is found turned to stone and Claire is determined to turn them back. Ends up Dane is keeping company with nasty rock trolls who are on a mission to find their fathers no matter what the cost. Claire infiltrates their group and with the help of a blue fairy works to turn the curse around.

I love that this book is set along the Mississippi river. The story has a very classic fairy tale feel to it with curses and trolls and people being turned to animals and stone.

The whole story is told in a very tongue and cheek tone that made it fun to read. I enjoyed Claire as a character and loved the setting and the quirky characters that surrounded Claire. There’s a lot of good discussion in here about the bad things that can happen to bullies too.

The illustration by Ceccoli throughout was beautiful and fit the whimsical tone of the story perfectly. I really enjoyed it.

Overall a very cute and whimsical story about the fae magic that drifts along the banks of the Mississippi. I really enjoyed the classic fairy tale feel to the story and enjoyed the beautiful illustration throughout. I would definitely recommend to readers middle grade and older who enjoy fairy tales with a bit of irony and humor in them.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge