The Goose Girl

core novel 2003 The Books of Bayern

Record

First published	2003
Original language	EN
Work type	novel
Canon status	core
Reader rating	4.14 (141,706 ratings, collected 2026-08-27)
Page count	383
First-edition ISBN	9780439650205
Internal chronology	1

Synopsis

The Goose Girl, published in 2003, is the first novel in Shannon Hale's Books of Bayern series, based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale of the same name. Crown princess Anidori-Kiladra, called Ani, of Kildenree has been raised with rare gifts for speaking with people, animals and nature, and has a close bond with swans and her horse Falada. At sixteen she expects to inherit her mother's throne, but after her father's death she is instead sent to the neighboring kingdom of Bayern to marry its crown prince in an arranged match meant to secure peace between the two lands.

Where it sits

• Universe: The Books of Bayern
• Series: The Books of Bayern core; position 1 of 4 in the series' recorded order
• Author: Shannon Hale

Awards (verified)

• Josette Frank Award (Fiction), 2004: won
• Mythopoeic Fantasy Award (Children's Literature), 2004: finalist

Notes

• From the series record (The Books of Bayern): Four novels set in the same kingdom, each centered on a different young woman.

Neighbouring works

Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.

• Reading order, within the series The Books of Bayern: position 1 of 4: next Enna Burning (2004)

Sources

• Wikipedia: The Goose Girl (novel)
• Wikipedia: Enna Burning
• Wikipedia: River Secrets
• Wikipedia: Forest Born
• Bank Street College of Education: Children's Book Committee past winners (Josette Frank Award)
• The Mythopoeic Society, official Fantasy Award finalists list

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