THE MAMMOTH ADVENTURE

The third installment of the Princess Rules series finds the adventurous princess and her prince allies liberating creatures from undesirable conditions.

The first of the two interconnected stories in this book concerns a juvenile Mammoth and a reformed Sea Serpent whose games outside the palace have become too noisy and rambunctious, irritating the king and queen. Feeling unappreciated, the Sea Serpent takes up with the unpleasant Countess N’Asty and her Rare and Disagreeable Show, which is full of displays of depressed animals. To save the Sea Serpent from his error in judgment, Princess Florizella, younger brother Courier, best friend Prince Bennett, and the Mammoth hatch a rescue plan. In the second, interconnected story, Florizella tries to release a mute bear they liberated from the sideshow into the wild, leaving him alone in the forest. But, wracked with guilt, Florizella soon returns to the scene only to find a ransom note: Bear has been kidnapped by pirates. The princess makes a fervent wish that she might know where Bear is, and lo and behold, she discovers that she has a fairy godmother—one who is frankly exhausted from all the wishes her many, many godchildren regularly demand of her. Lessons of friendship and fair play drive these lively, humorous, fairy-tale–style stories. Florizella’s family reads as White; previous volumes cue Bennett as Black. (Final art not seen.)

Principled princess fun.