Sisters vs. Goblins

Into the Goblin Market – written by Vikki VanSickle, illustrated by Jensine Eckwall
Tundra Books, 2024

Into the Goblin Market is not a young reader’s version of Christina Rosetti’s (1830-1894) provocative poem, but the picture book is an imaginative response to that work. Even if you knew nothing else about this fantastic, in both senses of the word, work, you would have to be impressed at the choice of this literary homage.  But Into the Goblin Market stands out all on its own.  Two sisters, Mina and Millie, use the strength of their unbreakable bond when Mina disappears, perhaps to be consumed by malign forces.  Millie, confronting the supernatural terrors of classic fairy tales with an undertone of Rosetti’s feminist poem, rescues her beloved sibling and they return home. The poetry is hypnotic, the pictures are stunning, and the sisters are undefeated through their love.

On the cover, (link to image) in Jensine Eckwall’s ink-drawn and digitally edited, illustration, Millie is seated in an alcove reading a book, while Millie looks down on the scene, as if thinking of ways to escape.  As Vikki VanSickle writes with concision and humor, “Millie’s manner was reserved/but Mina had a lot of nerve.” Those qualities set the scene for their adventure.  While her sister is sleeping, Mina leaves the safety of their farm, and stumbles on the land of the goblins, where she will disappear. Their tempting sales pitch works on a girl eager for change, but their high-stakes words contain an implicit warning: “Make a choice and make it quick!/Make it while the magic’s thick.”

Meanwhile, back in their home, Millie is awakened by a dream that communicates her sister’s flight.  With visions of goblins making her uneasy, she looks for Mina but does not find her.  The interior of their house, like every scene in the book, is rendered in black with deep red touches highlighting elements of importance.  Millie looks through a window from one bedroom to another, her face and upper body surrounded by a jagged red halo. Downstairs, a red cloak, alluding to familiar fairy tales, hangs on a hook. A bookish girl, she naturally turns to her books, searching through them for resources on how to rescue her sister.  Finally, it is time to take action and she assembles the tools for her journey: “She took some wool, a crust of bread/and donned her cloak of crimson red.” 

VanSickle employs the language of classic folklore without resorting to overt imitation. Her images, too, recall this literature, but take the form of eclectic blends.  A tall witch-like figure hands a bouquet of red poppies to Millie, wearing her red cloak.  Emerging from the figure’s home is the elongated face of a wolf.  Those poppies are as potent as a poison apple, and soon Millie’s “consciousness began to drift.” 

Finally, the sisters are reunited. They sit together in a bed of flowers, surrounded by the comforts of nature and the knowledge of Millie’s bravery has saved their lives and relegated goblins to the past. But without Mina’s urge to challenge boundaries, there would not have been a book.