A story! . . . Tell us a story!”
-- Anya (Prologue: Ten Years Before)

Importance: This quote represents the safety and love Anya has a child, with the royal dogs around her. This is also the last sentence of the prologue, and therefore opens the rest of the novel. Anya says this to Tanitha as a little girl at the end of the prologue that is titled “Ten Years Before” (1). While Anya sleeps by the fireplace, Tanitha warns the puppies that the sorcerer is evil and they will face some challenging times ahead, but their job is to keep the princesses happy. When Anya wakes she makes this request of Tanitha for a story, and Anya remembers this moment at several points in the novel, including in the Good Wizard’s Magic Mirror, and it helps her stay steady and remember she has a home, and she is loved.

Stick [italicized] was a very important word for dogs.”
-- Narrator (Chapter Two: Princess Anya Goes Frog Dowsing and Is Joined by a Royal Dog)

Importance: This...