The Little Lame Prince

This extraordinary story is about a pig prince who, orphaned and lamed as a baby, is sent away by his wicked uncle to be brought up in obscurity. Meanwhile the uncle sets up a dictatorship, waxing fat on the misery of the downtrodden poor. How the prince eventually rescues his country and people, with the help of a fairy godmother, is told in complex, literary language full of rich metaphor. Partly because of the complexity of the language I consider this book is for much older children than one would expect. It also raises interesting moral issues about handicap - is this a story of handicap overcome, or is the issue fudged by the intervention of the fairy? Questions of abuse of power and politics also arise, making this a demanding read.