“The Snowcat Prince”by Dina Norlund is a triumph and a tragedy. A triumph because the story is beautifully and emotionally illustrated and full of emotion, particularly kindness. A tragedy because the story’s creator, Norlund, passed away last month at the young age of 27.
Cover by Dina NorlundWritten, Illustrated, Colored and Lettered by Dina Nordlund
To break the curse on the kingdom, Syv, the youngest snowcat prince sets out on a dangerous quest to find the long-lost magical crown of his ancestor and learn the true meaning of bravery and honor.Syv is a snowcat and the youngest in a family of princes. When his father dies, Syv and his brothers are all in line for the throne. Eager to become kings themselves and wary of how well-liked Syv has become by the citizens, Syv’s brothers send him on a dangerous quest to find the long-lost magical crown that once belonged to their royal ancestor, the Eldking. Legend says that the snowcat who finds the crown will break the curse on their land and bring great honor to the family. But failure could mark Syv with three black stripes, and he’d be banished forever.
Along his journey, Syv will face dangerous beasts, dark powers, and the ever-lurking sand foxes—sworn enemies to the snowcats. But when Syv discovers the truth about the legend of the Eldking and his magical crown, he’ll have to learn the new meaning of honor and find another way to break the curse.
From Norwegian author Dina Norlund comes “The Snowcat Prince,” a beautifully illustrated tale of bravery and honor.
What is “The SnowCat Prince” About?
It is a fantasy fairy tale quest.
It begins as the young snowcat prince, Syv, is told the tale of the snowcats and the battle with their eternal enemies, the foxes. As with all quests, there must be loss first, and so the King of the Snowcats dies, leaving numerous heirs, and the kingdom still stuck in eternal cold.
Syv’s brothers have no interest in changing a system where they are worshipped to risk their lives for the unknown. Instead, they trick Syv into taking a hopeless quest that they believe will eventually kill him.
However, our earnest young Syv will not give up, even though it quickly becomes clear that he has a great deal to learn about the world beyond the frozen kingdom he knows. He makes new friends, encounters enemies, and eventually comes to realize the truth about the snowcats and the legends that he was taught.
It’s an all-ages story about the truth (and lies) in legends, about kindness, and about opening to a new world.
The Art of “The Snowcat Prince”
Every page is gorgeous and eye-opening. The close-ups of the young prince with big eyes and an expressive face produced an instant “d’awww” in me. I dare you not to do the same! The art also goes wider for full-page spreads of the lands of this fairy tale,
As in the page above, Syv’s journey is from the ice to the fertile lands, with the help of a friend he meets along the way. The cover at the top of this article shows how the prince is torn between these two aspects of his world.
I love many things about this story but particularly the color shift from blues and whites to vibrant reds and greens as Syv’s life and therefore his lands come back to life. The close-ups are as wonderful. As you can see above from just his expression, Syv is nervous and scared, while his new friend Kit is full of mischief. Her introduction is a full page with captions of Syv listing all his problems with her: mold, annoying, bird’s-nest [her hair,] dirty, loud, weird clothes. A close-up of his frowning face is inset.
Naturally, she invites herself along anyway. Kit adds energy to the story, literally cartwheeling across the pages.
The Legendary Spirits
Kit is not what she first appears, of course, and finding the truth about his new friend, and the truth of his existence comes as a bit of a shock to poor Syv. He’s without any foundation until, of course, he finds the legendary leader of the snowcats. But he’s going to have to be as heroic as the princes in his stories to finish the quest. The final sequence is a confrontation between mythical beasts that bleeds across the pages and turns a quiet tale into something epic.
It ends, of course, as it begins, with the telling of tales from father to son.
This is a book that parents will want to read with their kids, over and over. I finished the story full of gratitude for what Norlund has left behind but also with the sadness of all that we have lost by her untimely death.
