FLORIZELLA AND THE WOLVES
by Philippa Gregory & illustrated by Patricia Aggs
From a British author of adult historical romances, a refreshingly offbeat kid-and-animal adventure dressed up as a feminist fairy tale: Princess Florizella doesn't mind not being beautiful, and has no intention of marrying handsome Prince Bennett next door, but they're good friends. When she secretly adopts four orphaned wolf cubs, the royal cook misses quantities of venison and steak-and-kidney pie and raises the alarm. Once the cubs are big enough to hunt, Florizella is ordered to return them to the forest, but when one—Samson—keeps coming back to howl under her window at night, she and Bennett dye his coat and pass him off as an Alsatian. By the time this ruse is discovered, Samson has earned a place at court by rescuing Florizella from a panther, and all live happily thereafter. An excellent read-aloud—warm, lighthearted, and spiced with humor and suspense; adults will enjoy the bits of anti-monarchist satire and sendups of nursery tales (this queen eats her bread and honey in the office). Lots of b&w drawings capture the high spots. (Fiction. 7-10)