Book Review - 'The Queen's Nose' by Dick King-Smith

2024 EDIT: Reread in an afternoon, and I have to say, 'The Queen's Nose' has a much darker ending than I remembered. How did I not notice all these implications the first time reading it? There are layers and subtext to this deceptively simple little classic children's book about wishes and animals (dare I say, it could intentionally be about British-and-Indian relations/colonialism, too!?). Though a lot of classic children's books are dark, on rereading them as an adult, aren't they? Just look at the bibliography of Beatrix Potter.

'The Queen's Nose' does have a "Be careful what you wish for" message without outright stating it. It's done in a process, as the reader learns alongside the protagonist, Harmony, as she makes progress or doesn't; learns from her mistakes or doesn't. And at least this piece of lit about a tomboyish young heroine doesn't end with her suddenly being into "girly" things and only caring about boys, as so many male (and female, unfortunately) authors for too long have been under the mistaken assumption that that's "character growth" and "maturity" for girls.

Recommended for a short, sweet, simple - if eerie - time.

Final Score: 3.5/5





Original Review:



'The Queen's Nose' is a sweet little book for children that can be read in a couple of hours. Animal fans are sure to like it, as well as people who like to make-believe, to wish for things that they hope will come true, and to go out and play and explore and ride their bike and do all sorts of things to keep fit and healthy. Never mind how dirty and raggedy you may get!

The characters have such lovely names - Harmony, Melody, Uncle Ginger, and all the people who ten-year-old Harmony names after different animals, based on their appearance and conduct.

Harmony Parker is a rapscallion tomboy (a sexist, patronising and outdated term, but back in the eighties she would be described as such), and I adore her for it. She is desperate for a pet - lots of pets, in fact - but her parents won't let her have any animals. Her Uncle Ginger leaves after a visit to the family, with a present for Harmony: a treasure hunt, which leads to a fifty-pence coin, found under a wooden tea chest in her favourite place - the disused chicken house at the end of her garden.

The fifty-pence coin, that Uncle Ginger apparently got from India, is magic; with a magic Queen's head, with her pointed nose, on one side of it. It can grant its owner seven wishes.

How the young girl will go about wishing for things is up to her. Her wishing will eventually end up with unexpected, and twisted, results for her and her family.

'The Queen's Nose' can be endearing, unpredictable, and life-affirming.

A few downsides to the book are: once Harmony receives her pets, not much attention is paid to them, after all of her longing; and her mother and older sister Melody are rather stereotypical - a fussy, old-fashioned housewife and an overly-feminine, shallow, self-absorbed and mean teenage girl respectively - but they do soften up and show more dimension towards the end of the novella.

I enjoyed 'The Queen's Nose'. I haven't really read any other books by Dick King-Smith (I've never been that interested in fiction books about animals, as fond as I am of them). I know, however, that this one is a certified children's classic. It is also very different from what I barely remember of the BBC TV series that I saw as a little kid.

Final Score: 3.5/5