The Ickabog

I received this book as a gift and was surprise to discover it is a children's book.

I love the idea of the illustrations by the children and the beginning was quite intriguing but at the end it really feels like a book which should be half its length.
Overall it is a nice and original fairy tale; but as an adult I found it really long and quite difficult to continue in the middle of the reading.
Can't imagine reading this to a kid or recommending it as a gift.

Writing is still good but sincerely not a great read.

A fun old-school folk tale, full of predictable tropes and stock characters which starts out strong but gets a bit laboured after the halfway point. Reminscent of Dickens being paid per installment, this book goes on for far too long because of the circumstances under which it was first presented to the public.

We started reading this book in 2022, but did not get very far.
We are starting over with it in January of 2024. Grandmama is reading it as well.
1/13/24 on page 17. 1/14/24 Read chapter 4. 1/15 Read chapter 5. 2.16 read chapter 6. 2/17, 18 & 19 read chapters 7, 8 & 9. 2/21 read chapter 10 2/23 read chapter 11, 2/28 read chapter 12, 2/1 & 2/2 read chapter 13.