RATPUNZEL

Hamster Princess Harriet returns for an adventure based on the fairy tale “Rapunzel.”

Facing double threats of a bath and having to clean her room, Harriet takes off in search of adventure. What she finds is her pal Wilbur, prince of the kingdom next door, in great amounts of distress. His hydra, Heady, has laid an egg—and the egg has been stolen! A bit of sleuthing uncovers a prime suspect, so Harriet, Wilbur, and their quail mounts are off to investigate a friend of Wilbur’s mother, Dame Gothel, who lives at Deadly Tower on Tiddlywinks Lane in the Forest of Misery, a district of the Kingdom of Sunshine. Traveling through such a happily schmoopy land wears on Harriet’s patience, but soon (with plenty of tropecentric jokes) they both confirm the identity of the egg thief and discover a tower, clearly meant for princess containment, accessible by the phrase, “Ratpunzel, Ratpunzel! Let down your tail!” Sweet, naïve princess Ratpunzel provides tears for Dame Gothel’s spells and whiles away her time practicing improvisational cooking (creativity in culinary arts isn’t always a good thing). Harriet and Wilbur launch a half-baked plan to rescue both the hydra egg and the captive princess, the success of which relies on teamwork. In this third series entry, Vernon pokes gentle fun at all of her characters—especially lovable Harriet—and offers a humorous feminist critique of the princess genre.

This heroic hamster still brings the fun.