Nell of Gumbling: My Extremely Normal Fairy-Tale Life

Author: Emma Steinkellner
Illustrator: Emma Steinkellner

© Date: 2023
Publisher: Labyrinth Road
Pages: 220
Chapters: No – which makes it easy to lose track of time reading
Illustrations: Yes, graphic novel
Publisher Recommended Age: 8-12
Bonus Activities at End of Book: No, but the end does have some comic form Tales From Gumbling

Summary from Book: Dear Journal, Life in a magical land isn’t always a fairy tale…you might think the town of Gumbling is like something out of a storybook, but to me it’s just home! I mean, sure, my dads run a magic star farm; my best friend, Myra, is a fairy; and my second-best friend, Gil, is as small as my thumb. But I’m just like any other kid. EXCEPT that one day I’m going to be a world-famous artist! That’s why I just HAD to land my dream apprenticeship with THE Wiz Bravo.

Too bad that instead I’m apprenticed to boring Mrs. Birdneck in the town archives. How am I ever supposed to become a real artist if I’m stuck in the mold dungeon of the Castle Memorial Community Center? Having the world’s worst apprenticeship is bad enough, but now there are some weird strangers hanging around town and talking about turning Gumbling into a fancy resort. Everyone is completely freaking out about it. All Myra seems to care about is saving the town–WITHOUT ME, I just want this school year to have a happily-ever-after, but that might not be so easy….

Page Pig Thoughts: This is a sweet story of activism, friendship, and finding connection with unexpected things. Once I moved on from the question of how Nell is short for Lenore (didn’t take long), I rather enjoyed this story. I loved some of the deep messages woven into this story, and enjoyed Nell and the other characters learning and growing. Some of the town history stories that are reminiscent of traditional fairy-tales may not be for a younger or sensitive reader, but this is a sweet story of finding yourself and how your own unique skills can make a difference.

Family Unit:

Nell (12) lives with her two dads; younger brother, Rib (10); and younger sister Schmitty, (6)
Myra lives with her father and mother
Other characters have at least a mother mentioned

Conflict/Social Issues:

Nell has to navigate living her life and being the oldest sibling.
Nell is envious of Leabelle because she seems amazing at everything.
Nell does not get the apprenticeship that she was hoping for, which leads to her also learning how to learn/work with Mrs. Birdneck.
Voila is rather into herself and initially not very kind to Nell.
Two strangers walk into town, claim to be long lost heirs to the throne of Gumbling, and propose making Castleworld, a hotel/amusement park to bring in lots of tourists. Some townspeople think it is a good idea to bring the town more money, lots of others believe that it is a bad idea.
Nell and her best friend, Myra, start doing their own things and approach the Castleworld issue differently, which leads to some conflict and resolution.
Nell has to navigate watching Myra be good friends with somebody else.
Voila Lala sees her best friend, Leabelle, making friends with other people.

Positive Items:

This bit really spoke to me. “It’s probably good to not always get what you want. Helps you grow and become a better person. But it’s hard to actually feel yourself growing in real time. And it’s very easy to feel the other part–being disappointed and wishing things were different.”
Being the same and together all the time is not a necessary part of friendship. Friends can be their own unique selves and do things independently, but still be close friends.
This one also spoke to me. “The only people who win if we feel too shy or too unqualified or too unimportant to fight are the Greatman-Bigbys.” Fighting in this case is speaking up to have our voices heard and finding a way to make a difference. The Greatman-Bigbys are the venture capital strangers that came into town and plan to turn Gumbling into a tourist destination.
Nell finds her younger siblings irritating sometimes, but she shows them that she cares and spends time with them.
Voila Lala is rather into herself, but learns to be a better friend when she sees her best friend, Leabelle, making friends with others.
Nell finds a way to connect with lorekeeping that makes other townspeople interested in the town’s history. Short, comic form stories are appealing, which Mrs. Birdneck appreciates and would like more of.
Nell and Mrs. Birdneck have two different personalities and approaches to life, but they learn from each other and grow as individuals.
Voila learns how to put her own spin on star farming, then becomes a super fast learner and enjoys her apprenticeship.
Gumbling is a town of all sorts of different creatures that live and work in harmony. Thumbkins are the size of a thumb, but they still work at desk jobs or with garbage collectors, and no one flinches at all.
Once Nell really gets to know different people, she really connects with them, regardless of her previous impressions.

Items of Interest:

Nell mopes around because she does not get the apprenticeship that she hoped for, which was working with the artist, Wiz Bravo. In the end, she learns that Wiz Bravo is a bit of a putz, so working with him might not have been her dream anyway.
Apprenticeship pairings – Nell is working in lorekeeping, Myra is working with a Town Council Member, Gil is working as a Garbage Collector, Voila is working as a star farmer, Leabelle is working with an artist. Everyone else is excited about their apprenticeship, except for Voila. Since Nell’s dads are the star farmers that Voila apprentices for, that creates a bit of a conflict.
Nell’s apprentice moping gets tiring for her best friend, Myra.
Nell eavesdrops a little.
Gil has a crush on Leabelle, but tries to hide it.
Myra’s parents run an inn, so she has to live with strangers sleeping in her house. Some of the guests at the inn are more pleasant than others.
Traditional fairytales are a little weird, and the old stories of Gumbling follow that tradition. for example, the old lady who took in the orphans and mistreated children of Gumbling. She would take her magic eyeball out of her head, and it would roll around the kingdom looking for children who needed her.
The third King of Gumbling was living the good life with parties and feasts while the people of Gumbling were starving and homeless. The old witch of town threatened to eat him unless he found a way to take care of the people. He had a few ideas that didn’t work, but in the end, turned over his castle for homeless people to live in and relinquished his crown. Gumbling never had another king.
Mrs. Birdneck is grieving from the loss of Mr. Birdneck the year before.
Two strangers show up in town and claim to be the lost prince and princess of Gumbling. They want to create Castleworld to bring in lots of tourists for the roller coaster, fancy dining, luxury rooms, and meeting the fairies and unicorns of town. Not everyone agrees that this is a good idea.
Gumbling had a princess that frustrated her mother because she was not fulfilling her proper royal duties. In the end, the princess tells her mother how she is serving the people in her own way by making star charts for farmers and fishers, wagons for merchants, and amusements for children. The queen finally understood her daughter and let her choose her own princessly duties.
Gil falls into a hole in a tree. Myra the fairy flies in to rescue him. A skeleton hand caught him before he hit bottom.
Nell supports Rib while he is fearful of going into the catacombs. She lets him know that he doesn’t have to go with everyone, and she stays by his side when he does go down.
Voila has no issue opening crypts.
Nell and her friends (new and old) and her siblings go on a puzzle/clue search around town and find the town key left by the last king of Gumbling. The strangers in town steal the key and lock the children in the vault with the crypt.
The children find a way out of the vault, convince the town council that Castleworld is a bad idea, and get the strangers run out of town.
Voila’s horse body could not climb up the steep staircase out, so Leabelle and Nell carry her out. Voila makes comments of being a better friend to Leabelle, which inspires Nell to approach Myra. Both Nell and Myra realize that they have things to apologize for.

Other Books in Series (At Time of Posting):

Nell of Gumbling: My Extremely Tiny Forest Adventure (Book 2) [review]

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