I’m so excited to share Prince And Knight: Tale of The Shadow King with you all today! This follow up to Prince and Knight was one of my most anticipated titles of 2021, and it exceeded my expectations. Like Prince and Knight, Tale of The Shadow King is another modern inclusive fairy tale and continues the story of the prince and knight after their wedding.
In Tale of The Shadow King, our heroes have a big problem to solve – a fog of darkness is covering their kingdom, blocking out all the light. We follow along as our brave heroes set out to find the source of this darkness – the Shadow King. Along the way, they save each other from harm, mirroring the first book of the series. After traveling the land and fighting off monsters, our heroes find the Shadow King only to discover that he’s not at all what they expected.
I won’t spoil anything, but I will say this one has a happy ending, like most fairy tales. I really appreciate that the “bad guy” isn’t really a bad person. By offering the Shadow King’s backstory, Tale Of The Shadow King encourages empathy, acceptance, and understanding for young readers.
Though Prince and Knight had no challenges to the couple’s queerness, Tale of The Shadow King discusses the queer experience with a bit more nuance. It touches on both the harm caused to queer folk when they are not accepted for who they are and highlights the health and happiness that comes from living authentically. I believe Tale of The Shadow King will be a wonderful conversation starter about the way we should love our queer friends, family, and neighbors.
Once again, the illustrations by Stevie Lewis are wonderful! I loved seeing the familiar faces of the prince and knight, but the way she captured the Shadow King is so beautiful. I think he might be my new favorite character in the series.
Tale of The Shadow King is available wherever books are sold, including Bookshop and Amazon. (Please note: Some links provided are affiliate links. Affiliate links allow me to receive a small commission for recommendations at no cost to you. This commission is used to maintain this site and to continue bringing content to you. I always appreciate your support!)
Daniel Haack is a children’s book author and Emmy Award-winning children’s media executive. To learn more about him and his work, please visit his website at www.danielhaack.com.
To learn more about Stevie Lewis and her other work (including one of my recent favorites, Fatima’s Great Outdoors), please visit her website at chocosweete.com.
I want to thank Little Bee Books not only for providing me with a review copy of this wonderful book, but for the continued dedication to promoting LGBTQ+ acceptance through children’s books. As a queer person, it means the world to me for my son and all the other little ones growing up right now to have these books at their fingertips. These were not resources I had as a kid, but I am so grateful for them now.