The Secret of Moonacre, 2009with Dakota Blue Richards
Based on The Little White Horse, by Elizabeth Goudge, this is a sweet little fairy-tale. If I had to guess what prompted it's conversion to the cinema, I'd say it was J. K. Rowling commenting that it was one of her favorite books.
After her father's death, Maria Merryweather goes to live in Moonacre with her Uncle Benjamin and Miss Heliotrope her faithful companion. There she quickly overcomes her 'fine airs' and learns to ride, explores the dangerous forest, and quickly realizes her fate as the current Moon Princess.
While there are many discrepancies between the book and the movie (making it frustrating to those of us that have read the book), it was a cute story. The acting wasn't particularly good, and while there were a few laugh-out-loud moments, they were awkwardly placed.
Graded a C+. (By both Raspberry and Trackgeek.)
The Little White Horse, by Elizabeth GoudgeJuvenile, 1946
from fantasticfiction.co.uk:
The beautiful valley of Moonacre is shadowed by the memory of the Moon Princess and the mysterious little white horse. When Maria Merryweather comes there on a visit she finds herself involved with an ancient feud. She is determined to restore peace and happiness to the whole of Moonacre Valley. And Maria usually gets her own way.
This sweet story has the authenticity that many of those 'old school' stories have. The writing is well done and the characters enjoyable. While it wasn't quite the gem that The Secret Garden is (for example), it held up on it's own feet and has a rightful place on our shelves.
I highly recommend the book over the movie and suggest that fans of The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, and other classics would enjoy this fairy tale.
Graded a B.
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