The Princess and the Bear [Kindle Edition]

Mette Ivie Harrison (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up—This stand-alone sequel to The Princess and the Hound (HarperCollins, 2007) examines and critiques humanity by contrasting animals and people. Here, in what the author calls a parallel novel, the legend of King Richon is told. Because of his cruelty to those with magic, he was transformed into a bear 200 years earlier. The hound Chala, from the previous volume, gradually becomes his constant companion. Meanwhile, "unmagic" is spreading, and they must travel back in time in order to save the kingdom. King Richon, who returns to his human form, aims to make amends for his tyrannical rule. Chala, choosing to give up her hound state, must reconcile herself to her human limitations as she wonders if she sacrificed too much. Their mutual respect and deep friendship subtly and convincingly grow into love while they explore their magical shape-shifting powers and restore peace to the kingdom. Told in third person, the chapters alternate between the points of view of the bear and the hound. The plot pacing is even and taught. Deep exploration of the main characters' flaws and values blends smoothly with an exploration of good versus evil. Some well-drawn descriptions of bloody battles between animals and humans may be too intense for some readers, but the love story is as compelling as the characters are strong and complex. The message of ecological responsibility is slightly heavy-handed but readers will find the relationship between independent Chala and pensive Richon appealing.—Amy J. Chow, The Brearley School, New York City END

Review

“The relationships between animal and human, and the magic in being both, are exquisitely delineated, and the love story between the two strong protagonists is all the more powerful for being intensely restrained....absorbing.”

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 236 KB
• Publisher: HarperCollins; Reprint edition (April 28, 2009)
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0026SCNBI
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What will she think of next?, April 28, 2009

By 

B. Stevens (Iowa, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Princess and the Bear (Hardcover)

I had a wonderful visit in this world of magic! It was comfortably familiar as the place where Prince George came into his own. In this sequel to THE PRINCESS AND THE HOUND, we see a relationship develop between the bear and the hound who were part of George's story. This new story is enriched by the first one, but not dependent upon it. It is something more of a romance than the first, as the title characters are together throughout the book. However, much of the time they are too busy having adventures to notice their deepening relationship. Plot twists are a Harrison specialty, and this novel has no lack. The end of their quest for help turns out to be just the beginning of the true mission for the bear and the hound as they do what they can to save magic from unmagic.

I kept a tight grip on this book until I could finish it, but my son (13) and daughter (11) have already read and enjoyed it!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, May 1, 2009

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Princess and the Bear (Hardcover)

In an age of kings and princesses, Harrison weaves a fantasy tale of magic that links humans and animals in a surprising and unique way.

King Richon and Princess Chala continue the adventure begun in THE PRINCESS AND THE HOUND. Though I did not read the first book, I had no problems understanding and enjoying THE PRINCESS AND THE BEAR.

Richon and Chala are given a chance to pit themselves against the cat man and destroy his unmagic to save their way of life and their entire world. But will they be able to hold back the evil the cat man is spreading?

Grab a copy of THE PRINCESS AND THE BEAR and lose yourself in a world of animal magic sure to thrill you with every turn of the page.

Reviewed by: Joan Stradling

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Realistic Portrayals of Animals, March 10, 2011

By 

EA Younker - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Princess and the Bear (Paperback)

It is rare for me to say this, but I actually liked this book by Mette Ivie Harrison better than the first one in the series. That is because it has my favorite character, the bear, as one of the protagonists of the stories. Part of me was hoping this story would involve more of Princess Beatrice and Prince George but while they are mentioned in the book, they aren't integral to the story.

Not only does this book continue with the spot on portrayal of how animals think different than humans, but it showed me that dialogue isn't necessary to keep a story flowing. The chapters alternate between Chala, the hound and King Richon, the bear. While in their animal forms, there is no dialogue. The animals will act certain ways which shows their feelings or what they are thinking. Even without dialogue for good portions of the story, we still see the characters grow and develop. This story has few characters beyond Chala and Richon but the plot of the story is still strong and even more involved, I would say, than the previous book. The connecting thread of the novels is the green magic. While green magic is still not readily accepted in the land the "unmagic" is even worse. If the unmagic spreads everywhere there will be big problems so Chala and Richon try and figure out what is happening and how they can fix it.

While this book is called a sequel to THE PRINCESS AND THE HOUND it can technically be read by itself. To me this book shows the best qualities of Chala and Richon and what they are willing to sacrifice for each other and the understandings they come to both as animals and as humans.