I know lots of kids who will love Clementine! Her story is dark (of course, as an evil warlord) but also caring. That’s why I invited Sarah on the podcast to chat about it.

The Dark Lord Clementine has everything you need in a modern fairy tale:

A bird made out of a book lays eggs that turn into spells.

Hair that changes color according to your mood- handy for avoiding cranky people.

Unicorns and Night Mares

Hedge Witches (my second encounter with them this year!)

It would make a solid read-aloud/bedtime story. I read it in 2019 and then again before writing this review for the paperback edition. I want to slide it into next year’s Kid Bookish Academy Roundtable line-up because I think we could have some interesting discussions about familial expectations and how hard it can be to try and “fix” big problems as a kid.

We had such fun talking about all sorts of Bookish things.