The Little Queen

Using a structure and tone reminiscent of The Little Prince, Geddes crafts an allegorical fantasy about a child’s search for purpose following the deaths of her parents. The girl, “now a little queen,” journeys away from her palace, hoping she might exchange roles with one of the many curious individuals she meets, which include a book sniffer, plant whisperer, and dream writer. “Dreams are always present in their seeming absence,” the dream writer tells a crowd that includes the queen. “You just need to find them and coax them out.” It’s a moody, meandering sojourn, and Geddes’s symbolic language underscores the value in a variety of vocations (at one point, the queen meets a “poop encourager” who “always had excelled at motivational speaking”). Following a cataclysmic event, the little queen finds a renewed sense of identity in helping to rebuild her kingdom. Miller’s gauzy b&w illustrations echo a dreamlike narrative that explores the inexplicable landscape of grief and the search for meaning. It’s a book that young readers and their parents can appreciate and enjoy equally, reading together or independently. Ages 8–12. (BookLife)