I said in a recent review that fairy tales tend to be odd. Kate di Camillo’s newest book, The Puppets of Spelhorst is a fairy tale, and it is indeed odd. It’s the story of five puppets: a girl, a boy, a king, a wolf and an owl. The puppets become the possessions of a lonely old man who dies. Then, they go on a journey, become separated and have separate adventures, then are reunited to put on a play. The puppets seem to live in their own world or dimension where they can talk to one another, but the humans who own and play with them cannot hear them. The puppets, however, can hear and learn from the people. And it’s all very mysterious.

The king tries to be kingly and give commands, but no one responds to his commands. The boy knows that he has a destiny to do some great deed. The girl is the only who one who truly sees the sun and the moon and the stars and the whole big world. The wolf is obsessed with his own sharp teeth. And the owl speaks in wise platitudes and wishes to fly. As I said before, it’s odd.

Is it a metaphor? Are we all puppets trapped in the darkness and longing for freedom and flight and love and purpose and sight? Nah, as C.S. Lewis would say, it’s not an allegory. Is it a story about the power of stories? The puppets themselves feel and are told that they are destined to be part of a shared story. But that’s very meta for a children’s fairy tale. I don’t know. It’s just and odd and intriguing little story that will either draw you in or not.

The Puppets of Spelhorst is the first book in a projected trilogy of Norendy Tales, “each illustrated in black and white by a different virtuoso illustrator.” The illustrations in this one by Julie Morstad are rather eerie and give the impression that the book is scary or dark, but while it’s a somewhat mysterious tale, it’s not really frightening or spooky.

I was reminded of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry or of the bittersweet fairy tales of Oscar Wilde and Hans Christian Andersen. If you like those, The Puppets of Spelhorst may be a good read for you. If not, you should probably skip it.