A Grimm Warning: The Land of Stories, Book 3

Strong messages about family love and the strong bonds among family members; loyalty to friends and companions; courage, kindness, collaboration, and plenty of creative thinking. Helping others, even when they're not especially grateful. Inclusiveness, in private life and public affairs, and judging people as individuals instead of making assumptions because they belong to a group. Valuing everyone's particular talents.

As in previous installments, good characters face constant danger -- to themselves and their worlds -- from evil ones. A beloved character dies; other characters are shot, kidnapped, imprisoned, incinerated, or devoured by a dragon. Battles with artillery and hand-to-hand combat (but not much gore) take place on- and offstage. Much of the violence is cartoonish but often dark: "The remains of the wooden soldiers were piled in the center of the prison. Many pieces, such as the legs and hands, still twitched. The general poured lamp oil over the pile of the fallen and lit it on fire so the prisoners above could watch the guards who had held them captive burn."

Several uses of "screw" as a verb, both as "screwing things up" and "Screw the code!" (referring to the fairies' Code of Magic). Low-key innuendo and double entendre that kids may miss.

The Mother Goose character is constantly drinking and often drunk; a number of her past adventures involve drinking buddies and seedy bars.