Maxwell’s vibrant illustrations have a lively, imaginative, but still-childish charm that will inspire young readers to consider telling their own stories. Maxwell brings fresh personality and pizazz to the fairies, goblins, and pixies that struggle for peace in the war for the diamond; the author delineates fey personalities through outfit choices and even includes an amusingly precise scale of the creatures’ bodies (“fairies are 100 times smaller than goblins” and “the pixies towered over the fairies but were still much smaller than the goblins.”) Sparkles and glittering stars adorn almost every page, and each creature has its own unique style, expression, and identity, like “Fire Fairy,” whose “wings are like flames,” and the royal goblin family.
Without the diamond, Maxwell presents the goblins’ domain, by contrast, as colorless and dismal; even the light from their bonfires is dull and gray, and after centuries of enjoying the diamond’s magical power given their long lifespans (“goblins live for over 1,000 years”) all they want is their home back. However, their method of getting their home back, centered on assumptions and revenge, creates more problems than solutions. Goblins and human readers both can discover an important lesson in this story from Maxwell, who readers will hope continues to write and illustrate many more.
Takeaway: Charming, glittery story of what happens when goblins make assumptions
Comparable Titles: Sophia Spencer’s The Bug Girl, Ul de Rico’s The Rainbow Goblins.
Production grades
Cover: B-
Design and typography: B
Illustrations: B
Editing: B
Marketing copy: B
