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
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
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