A chuckle-inducing, entirely worthy stand-alone follow-up to the terrific The Princess in Black (2014).
Princess Magnolia’s perfect birthday party’s threatened by constant monster alarms, summoning her secret identity again and again.
Prim, proper Princess Magnolia is all decked out in her pink finery, awaiting the arrival of a dozen ethnically diverse fellow-princess party guests for her birthday when her monster-alarm ring goes off. She changes attire and personas, becoming the heroic Princess in Black. Working swiftly, she saves a goat from a hungry monster and gets back to her palace in time to welcome her guests. But just when she thinks she’s in the clear and ready to open her presents, off goes her monster-alarm ring again! This pattern—Magnolia is just about to open presents when her alarm goes off, she comes up with a distraction for the princesses, defeats a monster, and returns just in time—continues through the book. It’s enhanced by visual gags, such as Magnolia’s increasingly flustered appearance, and hilarious depictions of the various ways monsters try to eat goats, from between giant pieces of bread to in a giant ice cream cone. A side character, the fittingly named Princess Sneezewort, frequently comes close to discovering Magnolia’s secret. In the end, Magnolia can’t take the constant interruptions anymore, yelling at a monster that it’s her birthday—the monster, abashed, ends up helping her in one last distraction for the other princesses.
A chuckle-inducing, entirely worthy stand-alone follow-up to the terrific The Princess in Black (2014). (Fantasy. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6511-1
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
While not exactly novel, it’s well-executed and very funny.
The Princess in Black’s cutest adventure yet—no, really, the monsters are deceptively cute.
While Princess Magnolia and unicorn Frimplepants are on their way to a much anticipated brunch with Princess Sneezewort, Magnolia’s monster alarm goes off, forcing an emergency costume change on her and Frimplepants to become the Princess in Black and her faithful steed, Blacky. They rush to rescue goat boy Duff, hoping to save the day in time for doughnuts. However, when they arrive, instead of monsters they see a field full of adorable bunnies. Pham’s illustrations give the bunnies wide-eyed innocence and little puffballs on the tips of their ears. Duff tries to explain that they’re menaces from Monster Land that eat everything (all the grass, a tree, a goat’s horn…), but the Princess has trouble imagining that monsters might come in such a cute package. By the time she does, there are too many to fight! Humor comes from the juxtaposed danger and adorableness. Just when the bunnies decide to eat the Princess, Blacky—who, as Frimplepants, is fluent in Cuteness—communicates that she’s not food and persuades the bunnies to return to Monster Land. While Princess Magnolia and Frimplepants are too late for brunch, Princess Sneezewort gets the consolation prize of lunch with the Princess in Black and Blacky.
While not exactly novel, it’s well-executed and very funny. (Fantasy. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6513-5
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
A few moments of distress capped by a happy ending and an iced lolly—all stories should end so well.
A communal effort reunites a lost child with her mother in this invitingly told and illustrated import.
On their weekly outing to buy vegetables, young Bela suddenly loses sight of her quick-moving mother. Her cries attract a boy with a goat (the goat also bleats “Ma!”), a tightrope walker and others who link hands to form a chain of helpers: “ ‘I see her Ma, she is walking near the peepal tree!’ ‘He sees her Ma near the peepal tree!’ ‘Her Ma! Peepal tree!’ ” With each Ma spotting, she runs from one landmark to another until at last she hears her name called. Bela’s “I found her!” and “Thank you!” pass back down the line as she rejoins her mother at the iced-lolly cart, and the two stroll home together. Using warm reds and golds as predominant colors, Gupta depicts uncrowded market scenes from, often, elevated angles so that Bela and her mother are both visible to viewers. Bela wears a spotted shift and her mother, a blue and yellow “saree”; other figures display a similar mix of modern and traditional garb. Bela’s plight is taken seriously, but the overall tone is relaxed. It’s lightened further by visual parallels between the delicate curlicues in the roofs and walls of the long rows of market stalls and the extravagantly curled mustaches sported by most of the men.
A few moments of distress capped by a happy ending and an iced lolly—all stories should end so well. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-81-8190-295-5
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Karadi Tales
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
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