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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book children will treasure, January 13, 2006
This review is from: The Way Home: A Princess Story (Hardcover)
The Way Home by Max Lucado is the story of redemption told in a colorfully illustrated fairy-tale form.
Anna, the adopted daughter of the king, has everything she needs and more, but she hears stories of the Lowlanders. They never work. They play all the time. The forest where they live looks so inviting.
Her tutor, Sir Henry, tries to warn her of the evil that dwells in the forest. Edward, the king's strongest knight, pleads with her to avoid "these servants of Olbaid." But Anna is only half listening. When invited to visit the woods by an old woman, "For just a peek," Anna follows. When Anna finds she has been tricked, she is hopelessly lost among the trees.
Only the king can rescue her--she is his child. He knows what Olbaid really wants. You will find examples of Mr. Lucado's humor as you read the various characters' names. The story is wonderful read by the child alone, but even better when a parent reads and explains it as a picture of God's redemptive love.
This is a book a child will treasure and want to read over and over. And, it's meaning will only deepen as he grows. -- Linda Demorest, Christian Book Previews.com
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Discontentment and a King's ransom, May 3, 2007
This review is from: The Way Home: A Princess Story (Hardcover)
Princess Anna had not always been a princess. She had been abandoned when a baby, and the King had found her in the great forest, and brought her up as his daughter. When she grew older, she became discontent at home in the castle. She had to work at her studies. It had been a good life, until she heard about the Lowlanders, who never had to work, and played all day. She knew her father the King loved her, but she began to think it wasn't too much fun to be a princess. She was warned that the Lowlanders were enemies, but Anna thought longingly of the fun they had, and reflected on how hard her life as a princess was.
One day she is lured into the dark forest, and when she turns back, the way had grown up, and she could not return. The Lowlanders were the minions of Olbaid, and did not, after all, spend their days in fun. Olbaid desired to have the princess under his control to spite the King, and under his power, she began to wilt, becoming like a Lowlander herself.
The King's love for his daughter caused Him to go to Olbaid for her. He offered Himself, which was what Olbaid really wanted, as a ransom for Anna. He seemed to die, but He told Anna that they could never kill Him. Anna was unhappy under the dominion of Olbaid, but she could not see a way out before, and she knew, everyone knew, that she herself had chosen to enter the dark forest. After the King conquered death and Olbaid and his Lowlanders had fled, the King told Anna He would take her home. In her hopelessness, she said she did not know the way anymore. The King told her that was why He had come for her. He had made a way for her return home, to be His daughter, His princess. He was the Way.
I cried when I read this beautiful allegory. Truly we have each chosen to go our own ways, literally despising what God has given us. But He has made a Way for us. John 14:6
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Looking deeper... finding gold!, January 26, 2008
When I first read this book, I too, was disappointed by the princess' wishy-washy character. Then I realized this is an allegory. The princess represents everyone before they trust God to rescue them when they got lost.
WE are that flaccid, lukewarm character. We don't see how much God's kingdom rocks. WE think the 'bad guys' are having so much fun. We ARE dull characters because we are spiritually dead before Jesus rescues us. WE acquiesce when satan whispers "you can't go to God now." We COULD call the devil a creep and march right back to God- but we don't.
The princess never really *does* anything the whole story because we are the same way. Our rescue doesn't come from our own heroic abilities. God defeats satan (no contest) with His sacrifice, then simply calls us to come home with Him.
Then just like in the story, people always think they can't go with God because they don't know how, or they can't make themselves good enough. That is OUR *duh* moment because God tells us in the Bible he takes us as we are and we just need to follow Him- like any child would know that the grown-up who just rescued her will know the way to safety. From the outside, it seems so elementary to us, but when we are in the story, we are just as slow as that princess.
Really, this tale is not about creating a perfect princess heroine that all the little girls want to be, like in Disney movies, but about showing us the truth of our own lives. We hope we are ultimately the hero of our own story and save the day, but really, we need God to do that and He IS the perfect hero.
As to it not living up to its epic potential, I, too, would love it to be a meatier, epic tale. However, it is clearly aimed at those very young children who are obsessed with princess movies, and as such, is a simple tale they can understand, and then open up the opportunity for parents to share about God's love with their kids! Even I as an adult was surprised and humbled by the message of this tale when I figured out who the princess represented and how the human story parallels it! No humanistic "we can do it ourselves" ego-stroking here.
It was only after realizing all this that I decided I was totally buying the book!
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