Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I don’t know how I missed reading this fairytale book as a child, but I’m very glad I have read it as an adult. It’s a lovely, fantastical, unusual fairytale encompassing several other fairytales that takes the protagonist, a young girl named Snowflower, from her humble hut where her grandmother left her for a bit to a castle where the queen and princess are jealous of her. As for the chair, the reader will discover why it is called wonderful. I have greatly enjoyed reading this book. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A robin who turns into an old man, shepherds who shear wolves, and a dog who is really a prince. These are just some of the weird and wonderful characters in this enchanting set of fairy tales. Any child who loves Hans Christian Anderson will love these fairy tales full of adventures in medieval forests and flower-filled meadows. They have moral lessons like all good fairy tales!

Dame Frostyface leaves her granddaughter, telling her that an unusual chair will tell her tales if she is lonely. Snowflower sets off to find her eventually, and hears about a wonderful feast that King Winworth is giving for Princess Greedalind, so she asks the chair to take her there. It surprises her that no one is happy at the royal court, and they don't treat her well. They like the chair's stories, however, and progressively reward Snowflower. Will she find her grandmother, though?

Almost all children would like these stories, I think.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781646260843
PRICE $6.99 (USD)

BJU Press has reprinted a fairy tale that will enchant readers young and old. Despite its age (written in 1857!), The Wonderful Chair has much for modern readers to glean. The main character, Snowflower lives with her grandmother, Dame Frostyface. Her grandmother planned to be away and she told Snowflower to lay her head on the grandmother's armchair and request a story whenever she felt lonely. When the food stores began to get low, Snowflower asked the chair to take her the way that her grandmother went.

Snowflower learns of a feast in honor of King Winwealth's daughter and decides to join them. She feels ashamed of her shabby appearance but she is grateful to eat the scraps that the cook threw away. The guests were intrigued by the chair that had transported Snowflower and when the king's spirits were low, his favorite page reminded his majesty about the little girl and her curious chair. She was asked to report to the king and Snowflower said the magic words and the chair began to tell a story. Each story offered a moral lesson and upon its conclusion, Snowflower was rewarded with gifts and progressively nicer locations to eat and sleep.

Children will not only adore Snowflower, but will admire her bravery and loyalty to Dame Frostyface when she ventured out to find her. How long will Snowflower remain at the palace? Will she ever find her Grandmother? You'll have to read the book to find out! I highly recommend this wholesome read full of great life wisdom!

Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of The Wonderful Chair from NetGalley for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

I enjoyed the stories of the chair and the way they all turned out to be real. I enjoyed the story as a whole and the solution. This is a really interesting book.

A light and entertaining read that has been brought back to life with a republication.

Written with the essence of classic fairytales. It is layered in morals for children, employing the classic tropes of good vs. evil, etc. It has an interesting concept of a fairy tale within a fairytale making it original and, at times, a little bit confusing. The tales themselves though were cute and refreshing, a sweet story within a story.

Frances Browne’s writing reminds me of Enid Blyton meets Hans Christian Anderson. The stories are a wonderful testament to her life, which I am eager to learn more about.

Thank you to NetGalley and BJU Press, JourneyForth for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Republication of Frances Browne's 1857 children's story, The Wonderful Chair. Half fairy tale and half an ode to the genre of fairy tales, The Wonderful Chair includes a number of original fairy tales told within the context of the larger fairy tale of Snowflower and her magical talking chair. A number of the fairy tales are solid, but the use of repetition (a common trope in the genre) at times becomes overwhelming.

The information page in the ARC tells me that this edition is featuring the version from the 1904 version (then published by McClure, Philips & Co.), but it was first published back in 1857.

It's a sweet little fairytale (within another fairytale), and tells us the usual story about how being a good person will make life easy and that people who are greedy and unfriendly will end up in a bad place. Like most fairytales it was probably used as a pedagogic means of teaching children the importance of certain traits.

Nothing new, but still a rather nice story.