"Howl's moving castle" by Diana Wynne Jones

Cute. That's the first word that come to my mind when I think of this book. Really really cute.

I love kids stories, and I love fairy tales, and I love magic. So obviously I love this book because it is all of these wrapped into one. And it's so lovely I can't even begin to explain.

This story takes place in an imaginary land where magic is an every day occurrence and the main character is a young girl named Sophie Hatter.

I love Sophie Hatter because at the beginning of the story she is so shy and afraid of everything. She's a mouse and she doesn't like going outside because she doesn't feel safe in the crowds outside her home. Basically I can relate to her very very much.

And it's so great because despite all of this fear she goes off and has an adventure anyway, even if she didn't exactly plan it.

Now Sophie gets cursed by and evil witch who turns Sophie into a ninety year old woman. Sophie then goes off to try and find someone who can fix her, but she can't actually tell anyone that she's cursed.

And that's when she finds Howl's moving castle.

Howl is a sorcerer and he is supposed to be an evil man who eats woman's hearts. Turns out he's just a terrible flirt who breaks women's hearts. Nuance.

Sophie goes on to make a deal with a fire demon and becomes friends with Howls apprentice and it's just a really lovely story. A modern day fairy tale if you will.

And if you're not reader (in which case I'd be curious to know why you're reading this) you don't have to read the book to go on this adventure with Sophie.

Normally I never say watch a movie if you can read the book, but in this case I will. In fact the best thing here would be to do both. So the movie is also called Howl's moving castle and its a cartoon by Hayao Miyazaki, and it is terrific. It really really is.

So my advice is the following : read the book, then watch the cartoon. It's worth your time I promise.