The Oak King and the Ash Queen (Hardcover)

From School Library Journal
Grade 5-7The Oak King and the Ash Queen lacks the ingredients of an absorbing tale. In this English fantasy, Dan and Daisy find themselves pawns in the world of tree people. Two plots emerge. The first involves a struggle between the Oak King and Ash Queen, rulers of the summer people. A second plot introduces the conflict between summer people and winter people, but lack of strong character development minimizes the conflict. After Dan and Daisy are unceremoniously told to learn the arts of bow and spear and spend the entire summer engaged in combat, readers discover that the King and Queen do not take the conflict seriously. With humor, and with no warning, a truce is declared. The second conflict, which involves a magically controlled winter hanging in the balance, is slightly reminiscent of Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Macmillan, 1968) and Cooper's The Dark Is Rising (Atheneum, 1973). In these stories, however, this idea works in far more imaginative ways. Phillips' lighthearted style of writing fails to become reconciled with ideas of genuine conflict. In addition, the rhyme " 'Out iron, in wood. Guard the trees' good.' " is simply not powerful enough to inform readers that iron is feared by tree people. Readers will also wonder why, when Dan is informed that he may ask only three questions (note use of cliche) of the Oak King, he proceeds to ask (and have answered) four, without difficulty. The rules of magic once established, are too easily broken. Karen P. Smith, Yonkers Board of Education, N.Y.
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