The Castle Corona, which veers far from Sharon Creech's usual territory, follows the lives of several characters: two princes, a king, a queen, a young princess, and two peasants (which isn't naming all but the main cast of characters).

The conflict: a thief in the kingdom and what happens next...

Well...honestly, the happenings in this story are predictable. The book is comprised of about 320 pages, and the ending can be guessed from the first chapter alone. One might consider this a bad story then, which is a point I disagree with. This is a short, (if you consider the size of the print) cute read. I did enjoy the writing style and descriptions, and there were more than a few instances of humor that did garner some chuckles.

The problem: the plot and its execution.

The end result to the plot is kind of like a 747 parked in a mall parking lot. It is that obvious. I have read books with very similar endings, and while I may not have been completely ignorant to what was going to happen (I had a pretty good idea), the execution of such a familiar plot left me enjoying the outcome. In the case of The Castle Corona, other than the one sort of main plot, nothing really happens. The ending was tied so tightly together and written in such a way (such a way meaning such a rush) that I was able to shut the book and shrug the story off, left with less feelings about it than I had halfway through or even in the story's beginning.

Were the characters bad? No; I especially liked the character of Prince Vito but was admittedly put off star rating instead of a two (I didn't NOT like the book). If you love books -Walk Two Moons especially) and this sounds interesting, check it out from the library (I would not suggest making a purchase). It would make a nice read-aloud for younger kids (especially if you throw in a few accents for different characters), but this is a book I will not pick up again, though this also is not a case where I regret the read.

This book was recommended to me by a 10 year old. She told me the book was beautiful, the story was great and she read it in one sitting. I'm inclined to read anything a young person recomends to me.

Pia and Enzio find a pouch in the woods one day, it is dropped by a thief. Pia and Enzio work for a horrid master and dream of being free and cared for like the royal family. The pouch and its mysterious belongings intertwines with the tale that is happening within the castle. I suppose the revelation was not as climatic as I was expecting. However, the story is delightful and once I remembered it enough it was fun to abbreviate and tell to my son before bed. The book is beautiful, the pages are "illuminated" a sort of old fashioned gold scrolling on the pages, pictures amid the chapters, it looks like an old fariy tale you plucked out of a very old library.

I could see why my little reader recommended it to me. I did ask her about it again after I finished, and she said she supposed the illustrations of the book made her feel transported into the story. She liked the book because she felt like she was in the book.

So while some of us grownup readers may have felt so so about the revelation, one girl I know loved it because she felt she became Pia, and I think this book was written for her and her friends more than for the likes of me.

A wonderful, whimsical, wise and creative story, that is filled with warmth. It is like an updated fairytale without loosing the charm. It will make perfect reading at night for storytime or to read on one's own. The pictures are wonderful, and they are like subtitles to the chapters, telling you whom the chapter will focus on. It gave me a nice, warm fuzzy feeling and left me with a smile, not something many childrens books do these days anymore. Cannot wait to read it to my grandchildren! Highly recommended.