A hilarious, wacky spoof on fairy-tale conventions.
Princess Florizella challenges princess stereotypes and still gets the prince—on her own terms….
Princess Florizella’s parents are unconventional royals who did not teach her the Princess Rules but let her do as she liked. As a result, “she grew up into a cheerful, noisy, bossy, happy girl.” So when she is invited to a ball by handsome Prince Bennett, along with 120 other, more conventional, princesses, she is the only one not interested in marriage but a fun party and excellent food. The prince decides she is the only one he wants, however, so he’s flabbergasted by her refusal. But they decide that they can settle for being best friends. Florizella flouts convention when she rescues Prince Bennett from a nasty tussle with a dragon only to be “prince-splained” as he expounds upon her violation of gender norms. In the second of the three interconnected stories in this work, the prince really does come to the rescue with a smart plan to make a wolf cub a more acceptable resident in the eyes of her royal parents. In the final story, Florizella and Bennett embark on a mission to rescue the Seven Kingdoms from the ravages of a destructive giant. Young readers will enjoy this validation of normal, gender-inclusive behavior. Florizella reads as White and Bennett as Black; the cheerful, charming illustrations have a classic feel and portray a diverse supporting cast.
A hilarious, wacky spoof on fairy-tale conventions. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-00-838831-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper360
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2021
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
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