This is a classic tale of a young princess and a miner boy who outwit a colony of scheming goblins in an exciting adventure set in a maze of underground caverns. When Princess Irene discovers a secret staircase at the top of the castle, she enters a world so mysterious she doesn't know whether to believe it is real. For hidden in the highest tower, is a beautiful old lady who lives among the pigeons, spinning magic thread beside a fire made of roses. But when strange cat-like creatures are found prowling the palace gardens, and Curdie the miner boy encounters a band of embittered goblins plotting revenge on the royal household, the princess must place her trust in the old lady if they are to save the palace from destruction.
This book is part of a book series called The Princess Stories .
There are 160 pages in this book. This book was published 1999 by ACC Art Books .
Joan Aiken is one of the best loved authors of the twentieth century, and has written over a hundred books for young readers and adults, including "A Necklace of Raindrops," "The Winter Sleepwalker and Other Stories," and "The Youngest Miss Ward. " George MacDonald (1824-1905) was a Scottish poet and writer of fiction. Dr Nick Walton is Shakespeare Courses Development Manager at The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
This book contains the following story:
The Princess and the Goblin
Eight-year-old Princess Irene lives a lonely life in a wild, desolate, mountainous kingdom, with only her nursemaid, Lootie for company. She is protected from the outside world and oblivious to the existence of goblins, hideous creatures that live underground and only come out at night. One day, while out walking, Irene and Lootie get lost. As night falls, strange shadows creep out from under boulders and around corners, closing in on them. Terrified, they try to run but the goblins give chase. It is then they run into Curdie, the brave miner's son who isn't afraid of the goblins and knows how to scare them away. He leads the pair to safety, back to the castle. While working late one night in the mines Curdie overhears a diabolical plan the goblins are plotting. The terrible goblin Queen plans to kidnap the princess and force her to marry her son. That way she believes humans will be forced to accept goblins as their rulers. Can they be stopped and the kingdom be saved before it is to late?
