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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
Age: 2nd-3rd grade
Transitional Reader
It's Princess Magnolia's birthday and all her princess friends are coming over to celebrate. As Princess Magnolia's monster alert ring keeps beeping, she must distract her guests with party games while she races off to protect the goats and fight off the monsters. One princess in particular attempts to solve Princess Magnolia's numerous disappearances but her character is flat and her investigation is dropped for a quick ending.
Regardless, kids that love superheroes but also love the color pink, princesses, and frilly accoutrama will enjoy this unique offering from the ever successful Shannon Hale.
Transitional Reader
It's Princess Magnolia's birthday and all her princess friends are coming over to celebrate. As Princess Magnolia's monster alert ring keeps beeping, she must distract her guests with party games while she races off to protect the goats and fight off the monsters. One princess in particular attempts to solve Princess Magnolia's numerous disappearances but her character is flat and her investigation is dropped for a quick ending.
Regardless, kids that love superheroes but also love the color pink, princesses, and frilly accoutrama will enjoy this unique offering from the ever successful Shannon Hale.
I will not be continuing this series for the following reasons:
1. As in the first installment I do not feel the Princess in Black is a three-dimensional character. She feels like a token "power-princess," which does not thrill me to admit, as I like to adhere to the philosophy that almost anything a girl/woman does with autonomy can be considered feminist, powerful, and interesting. This series, however, is proving the exception to this philosophy; The Princess in Black may be making her choices, but I do not understand why she's making them, I do not know what drives her, rendering her powerful moments weak and unrelatable. I do not cheer for her.
2. The illustrations are beautiful and diversity and representation are awesome, however I felt stereotype was leaned upon most heavily to render "familiar" images of non-white girls. For instance, the Chinese-looking princess was called Princess Snapdragon, and yes, they all have botanical names, but why is she Snapdragon? Why can't she be Clover? Or Iris? Or Sunflower? And why does the Native-American-looking princess need to ride a buck? The illustrations are beautiful, however they are paired with no backstory for these girls, turning them into tokens because...
3. The main character is white, and while her backstory suffers from white page syndrome, the only other speaking characters do not appear to belong to any culture in particular. Instead Princess Sneezegrass (was that her name?) has a costume and appearance relying on a floral theme, so though she has darker skin than the white princess we don't know who she is, other than an outcast. Which sucks that the only major character who is POC is an "other" and an outcast, even amongst a group of diverse princesses.
I know that the future installments may prove radically less problematic, however I am radically bored by the Princess in Black herself, and will not be returning to check in on the Woke-status of Hales' series.
1. As in the first installment I do not feel the Princess in Black is a three-dimensional character. She feels like a token "power-princess," which does not thrill me to admit, as I like to adhere to the philosophy that almost anything a girl/woman does with autonomy can be considered feminist, powerful, and interesting. This series, however, is proving the exception to this philosophy; The Princess in Black may be making her choices, but I do not understand why she's making them, I do not know what drives her, rendering her powerful moments weak and unrelatable. I do not cheer for her.
2. The illustrations are beautiful and diversity and representation are awesome, however I felt stereotype was leaned upon most heavily to render "familiar" images of non-white girls. For instance, the Chinese-looking princess was called Princess Snapdragon, and yes, they all have botanical names, but why is she Snapdragon? Why can't she be Clover? Or Iris? Or Sunflower? And why does the Native-American-looking princess need to ride a buck? The illustrations are beautiful, however they are paired with no backstory for these girls, turning them into tokens because...
3. The main character is white, and while her backstory suffers from white page syndrome, the only other speaking characters do not appear to belong to any culture in particular. Instead Princess Sneezegrass (was that her name?) has a costume and appearance relying on a floral theme, so though she has darker skin than the white princess we don't know who she is, other than an outcast. Which sucks that the only major character who is POC is an "other" and an outcast, even amongst a group of diverse princesses.
I know that the future installments may prove radically less problematic, however I am radically bored by the Princess in Black herself, and will not be returning to check in on the Woke-status of Hales' series.
Read aloud to my four and six year old girls.
They loved this one as well. My four year old wanted to read the entire thing in one sitting and I know we'll be rereading these books often. The princess/superhero mash up is so fun and when the monster wishes the Princess in Black happy birthday, both my girls were laughing so hard.
It's also a fun read aloud for adults. It's silly, but I find them engaging still (especially compared to some other early reader books out there).
Highly recommended as an early chapter book reader or as a read aloud. We are definitely continuing the series.
They loved this one as well. My four year old wanted to read the entire thing in one sitting and I know we'll be rereading these books often. The princess/superhero mash up is so fun and when the monster wishes the Princess in Black happy birthday, both my girls were laughing so hard.
It's also a fun read aloud for adults. It's silly, but I find them engaging still (especially compared to some other early reader books out there).
Highly recommended as an early chapter book reader or as a read aloud. We are definitely continuing the series.
Fun, adventurous, and playful. The pictures are colorful, charming, beautiful and on every page. Very luscious and cutesy. A quick read-aloud too. My three-year-old and I read it in one sitting.
The Princess in Black / Princess Magnolia is also a great for teaching our daughters that they do not have to be limited to one way - they can be both feminine and kind but also fearless and brave. My daughter currently wants to be Superman when she grows up (I think it's the flying), so a super-hero-esque heroine is perfect.
I enjoy this stories lesson on how sometimes you have choose to do the right thing when it might not be what you want to do. I love the struggle Princess Magnolia has with just wanting to have fun with her friends and her desire to serve.
I enjoyed this book more than the first book in the series. There was more humor, complexity and fun.
Highly recommended. Pick it up and have some fun!
The Princess in Black / Princess Magnolia is also a great for teaching our daughters that they do not have to be limited to one way - they can be both feminine and kind but also fearless and brave. My daughter currently wants to be Superman when she grows up (I think it's the flying), so a super-hero-esque heroine is perfect.
I enjoy this stories lesson on how sometimes you have choose to do the right thing when it might not be what you want to do. I love the struggle Princess Magnolia has with just wanting to have fun with her friends and her desire to serve.
I enjoyed this book more than the first book in the series. There was more humor, complexity and fun.
Highly recommended. Pick it up and have some fun!
Princess Magnolia is trying to enjoy her birthday party with fellow princesses but she keeps getting called away as her secret alter ego, the Princess in Black, to fight monsters and save the day. Trying to keep her guests entertained while keeping her secret proves difficult. This is a really fun early chapter book series with a not so average princess.
My daughter likes these because the princess is a superhero, which she's super into right now. I personally find the stories a little boring because it's the same thing always, she has to find a way to sneak off and not be discovered, then fights a monster that eventually goes back to monster land. She is a very flat character.
I'm going to leave this one unrated.
This was published in 2015 and there are a few moments where that truly shows. I'm not sure how adults can read this in 2024 and not see this. I understand that this is a beloved series, but there are a more than few things that made me cringe while reading this book. I enjoyed the first book, but I'm not really sure how things went wrong with this particular installment.
This was published in 2015 and there are a few moments where that truly shows. I'm not sure how adults can read this in 2024 and not see this. I understand that this is a beloved series, but there are a more than few things that made me cringe while reading this book. I enjoyed the first book, but I'm not really sure how things went wrong with this particular installment.
These first chapter books are a great way to transition into longer books. This is a great recommendation for readers who like both pink frills or adventure. While you don't HAVE to read these in order, I would recommend that you do.