Igraine is a 12-year-old girl that wants to be a knight. Unfortunately for her, she’s a girl and the only non-magician in her family.  Fortunately for her, her magician parents seem to be very tolerant of her dreams.  Her older brother, Albert, is less tolerant-but in a older/younger sibling annoyance sort of way.

Igraine’s parents are the most famous magicians in the kingdom and the owners of several magical singing books.  Over the centuries, many have tried to steal the books from Igraine’s ancestors and this is the key plot point of Igraine’s story, as well.  Of course, Igraine must come to the rescue when her parents accidentally turn themselves into pigs and her aspirations of becoming a knight become partially realized.

The story is fanciful-even silly at times-but I think it is a very enjoyable read for mid- to upper-elementary students.  The cast of characters are fun and light-hearted and much less menacing from some of Cornelia Funke’s other bad guy characters.  The ending is a bit abrupt, but easily workable in a classroom.  I intend to read this novel with my third grade gifted education students next year, as I think the story is accessible to them and there are a million projects and tasks that we could explore and create related to this story and connecting it to fairy tales and the medieval world of knights and kingdoms.