So gorgeous. 
 I think I've said that about the rest of the series, before, but it doesn't make it any less true each and every time I read a Fairyland Book. The fact that it's the last one is sad, true, but the ending makes up for all my trepidations. :) 
 This one felt slightly more dense in the puns, the hidden treasures, and the storytelling than the previous novels, or perhaps I was simply a bit more anxious to squeeze every last dollop of goodness out of the book because it would be the last. Either way, never imagine that the Cantankerous Derby is a race that follows straight lines or even logic. This is, after all, FAIRYLAND, and things are absolutely bonkers, bonkers, bonkers. 
 I was really taken for a ride this time, even if the Model A only had a walk on part, but at least we had the boy who lived in all directions at once, our fire-breathing library, a blunderbuss made of yarn, and more than enough shadows to rivet in all our desperate times. 
 The DUELS were awesome. 
 The more I think about these books the more I realize they're even better for adults than the ostensible child they're written for. Or is it really for the child that all of us will become Saturday to be? Or is the first kiss really the Kiss That Stands For All Time? 
 Well anyway, the kiss is the kiss that transcends time because it is the kiss of Story and Story is absolute and utter king. Or Queen. 
 I'm not blowing any wind here, folks. This book is AWESOME. 
 Hell, the whole Series is AWESOME. I'm sitting here looking at my little girl and willing her to grow a little bit older so she'll be ready for me to read all of these glorious glorious glorious works of imagination to her. :) I keep showing her the books and she lights up, saying, "Is that Fairyland?" And I say, "Yes, girl, this is Fairyland, and soon you'll be ready to ride the Leopard." "Yay!" 
 Yeah, yay!