#26 The Girl Who Drank The Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Every year, the youngest baby in The Protectorate is left out in the woods to be sacrificed to the witch, who is evil and will curse the town if she doesn't get the child (according to the Elders). Every year, the witch, Xan, finds an abandoned infant in the woods, though she doesn't know why. She takes these children across the woods to the Free Cities and gives them to families who want a child. On the way, she feeds the babies starlight to keep their bellies full. These Star Children are adored by all who know them. Except one year, Xan accidently feeds moonlight to the infant she finds, which gives the baby girl magic. Xan decides to raise the baby as her own granddaughter, because children with magic can be dangerous to others until they learn to control their magic. And so the girl, Luna, grows up in the woods with a witch, a well spoken and gentle swamp monster, and a perfectly tiny dragon. Meanwhile, a man from the Protectorate grows up and decides that he will hunt down the witch to prevent any further yearly sacrifices...
My husband picked this one out to read to our girls and, while it is definitely simplistic in sentence structure and plot, it is a delightfully engaging tale. And the language! SO beautiful. The descriptions are just so flowery and gorgeous, sometimes I would just lose myself in the imagery. Highly recommend as a short and fluffy read.
