It seems that Little Miss C is very much following in my footsteps and becoming a complete book addict. The last things she asks for at night is books and first thing in a morning she wants "stories" before anything else. Trying to keep up with her is proving somewhat challenging and I have to admit that some books really test your patience when you have to read them over and over again. One of our last trips to the library resulted in fines that were so large that it would have been chaper to buy the books new!
I was delighted therefore when the postman delivered a copy of The Worst Princess for us to review. LMC jumped on the copy as soon as she saw it and was fascinated by the big dragon on the cover – even if she does keep calling him a dinosaur!
My delight was continued when I actually got to read the story too. Princess Sue lives in a tower waiting for her prince to come and marry her, just as all good princesses in fairy stories do. But that's where Princess Sue and the other pricesses start to differ. Princess Sue is a bit of a tomboy at heart and doesn't want to stay at home trying on pretty dresses and drinking tea whilst there are dragons to chase.
Written in beautiful rhyming couplets and with some great comedy moments for the parents and older children this book is a complete pleasure to share with a child. You can't help but smile when you read things like this:
Once upon a time, in a tower near you,
Lived a sad princess; the Princess Sue.
"Some day," she sighed, "my prince will come,
But I wish he'd move his royal bum."
This book is perfect for girls who would much rather be outside having fun than inside trying on dresses and doing their hair and it really does help to turn some of those fairytale princess stereotypes on their head. The pictures are full of detail to help hold children's attention and LMC particulaly liked Princess Sue and the dragon stopping to have a cup of tea (from a teapot no less) during their adventures.
This is one bedtime book that I certainly don't mind reading over and over again!
The Worst Princess – Anna Kemp & Sara Ogilvie
Published by Simon and Schuster
Publication date: 26th April 2012
ISBN: 978-1-84738-875-9 £10.99 Hardback
ISBN: 978-1-84738-876-6 £5.99 Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-85707-707-3 £5.99 eBook
Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of The Worst Princess by Simon and Schuster for review.
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