The main consideration here is whether your child will be frightened by the goblins in the story. Fortunately, the story is never ‘dark’, but the idea of goblins and their ‘creatures’ (similar to pets) living in tunnels below the earth may be a bit much for some readers. There are a few perilous parts, including one where the young princess is chased and another where she is thought to be kidnapped. There is some violence as the humans defend themselves. Another item that should be discussed by parents comes when the young man rescues the young girl near the start of the book. From that point forward she mentions wanting to give him a kiss as a thank you. This comes across as very innocent, but it is obviously not something we would want played out in real life by our young children. In the end the kiss is given, but it is in the presence of her father the King and under his blessing. Finally, in the middle of the book the content with the good Grandmother feels ‘odd’ at first and again contains actions by the princess we wouldn’t want to see carried out by our young children. As the book progresses towards the ending, we begin to see what the author was going for, so it is worth sticking through, but just know that it is there. This may be a good candidate to read ahead of time and ask questions as they read through or read together with your child.
