Horns and Wrinkles

This middle-grade novel does things a little differently than the typical fairy-tale-style children's book. It feels more like a genuine folktale, with its river trolls and its wise old folks (who are secretly... oh, but I won't give it away). It features a young heroine who hasn't any special destiny or mark. What makes her special is a healthy measure of sense and a good dose of kindness.

The adventure undertaken is swift -- our heroine must save her bully of a cousin from a bad troll, as well as from his own worse nature -- but the imagination on display here is a pleasure, especially when the novel conjures up something magical, like a blue-wing fairy. The story is set along the Mississippi River, but up at its northern end rather show more than in the more frequented south. Unusual details like that abound here, and each small unexpected thing adds to the next to create a book that feels fresh even for the experienced reader. Overall, this was a quiet pleasure and a treat to read. show less

How can you tell if a river’s under a spell? River trolls, rock trolls, blue-wing fairies—the usual suspects—the stretch of the Mississippi where Claire lives has rumors of them all, not that she’s ever spotted any. But then Claire’s cousin Duke takes a swim and sprouts a horn—a long, pointy, handsome thing. After that, Claire doesn’t have much choice but to believe that something rivery is going on, especially since she’s the only one who can help Duke lose his new addition.

Bonus point for original world-building. Fast paced rich adventure fantasy, with interesting characters. Plenty of humor, and the chapter head illustrations charmed. Normally I'm not much into page-turners, but this had so much more going on that it worked for me. And I bet anything it would work for kids, too - boys and girls, age 8-12 I think might be best.

How's this for an original curse threat? "If there's any funny business, I'll turn you all into books. Thick ones, with no pictures, and tiny print."

This was a fun book for kids ages 11 or so and up, and a delightfully old-fashioned Mississippi River fable with all things "rivery." Claire is spending her day trying to elude her bullying cousin Duke. When they both end up in the river, strange things start happening -- Duke drops her off of a bridge, and her descent is slowed by an old woman in a rowboat who blows pixie dust on her, while Duke's nose grows longer and more horn-like with each act of bullying. Duke and Claire are joined by river and rock trolls, lying crickets, and fairies to solve a mystery, and restore humans who have been turned to stone by mischief-making trolls.

Curriculum: terrible things happen to bullies in this book that can only be reversed by the bully show more performing a genuine act of kindness. This would be a good book to use for discussions of bullying and responses to it. It is also an unusual fable, and would be a good book to use for comparison with more traditional titles when studying that genre.

Helgerson, J. (2006). Horns and wrinkles. New York: Houghton Millfin Books. show less

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 show more 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. show less

I recently won Three Berry Academy for early review....I then discovered it was a book of shorts that acts as a companion to Horns & Wrinkles. I felt I needed to read this book first in order to give the most fair review possible......I was also genuinely interested in this book upon learning the synopsis. I'm a Southern girl born and bred, so this taking place on the Mississippi and involving small towns and folklore is right up my alley.

For starters....the illustrations are gorgeous....I love this style! Shout out to Nicoletta Ceccoli for this amazing artwork!

This is one of the most unique stories I've read lately. The concept is cute, the characters are adorable and interesting and the story kept the pages turning. I gave this to my show more 13 yr old daughter to read next, I know she'll love it. I am definitely looking forward to more books in this series and recommend this for anyone who loves fun stories!

I have added a review to Amazon as well. show less

There’s a little town along the Mississippi River called Blue Wing. Twelve-year-old Claire lives there, along with her cousin Duke and lots of family who don’t think twice about believing in magic or trolls or pixies. They’ve all lived in Blue Wing long enough to hear the tales passed down. The folklore is more than just lore. So when Claire reports that Duke is missing, having grown a rhino horn and a Pinocchio-like nose, nobody seems too surprised. Shoot, the police department has a special procedure planned. And Grandpa, even though he knows better, manages to get himself turned to stone along with the others, leaving Claire to rescue her cousin while helping a few trolls along the way.

Horns and Wrinkles is a tale that requires show more a fair amount of openness on the reader’s part. Just like the population of Blue Wing, we’ve got to believe that eccentric river incidents are a reality. Each chapter begins with charming illustrations that foreshadow the chapter to come. The story reads like a modern tall tale, something rarely attempted and executed reasonably well in Horns and Wrinkles.

The main difficulties I had with the story involve the jerky transitions. I felt the author lost focus quite a few times and went rambling on unnecessary diversions. This is not to say that the plot was not well executed, it was quite swift and engaging. I simply felt there was unevenness in the transitioning between some scenes. This might be from the over-the-top nature of the tale. At times the fantastical seemed too much, like Lemony Snicket without the wallop.

I do think this tale would appeal to many young readers. It has several applications for classroom use: identifying elements of fantasy vs. tall tale vs. folklore, prediction and foreshadowing, as well as cultural and historical implications of the Mississippi Valley.

Review first published on Reading Rumpus
show less