View source for Princesses Are Not Perfect by Kate Lum and Sue Hellard

{{infobox2
|title=Princesses Are Not Perfect
|author=Kate Lum and Sue Hellard
|reviewer=Keith Dudhnath
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=An energetic and bubbly tale of princesses preparing for a party. It's elegant without being twee, and is great fun for girls and boys alike. Well worth a look.
|rating=3.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=32
|publisher=Bloomsbury
|date=January 2010
|isbn=978-0747599296
|aznuk=0747599297
|aznus=0747599297
|cover=0747599297
}}

Princesses Allie, Mellie and Libby love baking, gardening and building respectively. The day before the big summer party, they suddenly fancy a change and all swap jobs. With a hundred punnets of blueberries to pick, a hundred cupcakes to make, and a hundred chairs to build, the children are going to be awfully disappointed if the princesses' new-found interests aren't successful.

''Princesses Are Not Perfect'' is good fun - it's a fresh twist on the usual princess stories, with plenty of elegance but nothing too twee. It's amusing seeing the princesses get into an awful mess when they launch into brand new and ambitious schemes. Although aimed primarily at girls, it's not exclusively for either gender - it's very inclusive and enjoyable. There's a gentle moral in there: people should do what they love, and don't have to be great at everything. I was less keen on the implication that they shouldn't try new things, but I'm sure that's me over-analysing!

Sue Hellard's illustrations fit nicely. The pen and ink style has the same sort of energy as Quentin Blake's work, but with daintiness instead of wildness. It makes all the big dresses, extravagant hair and flowers look enticing and exciting, without being prim or prissy. It really works well, and helps feed the inclusive nature of the tale. Everything's very busy and in-yer-face, but that's exactly as it should be - you can imagine skirts flying, flour getting everywhere, blueberries getting knocked over, and piles and piles of chairs stacking up.

The vocabulary is clear, direct and bubbly. It'll be enjoyed equally by young children having a fun bedtime story, or slightly older children on the cusp of reading for themselves. Well worth a look.

My thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.

For a classic fairy tale, check out [[Snow White by Jane Ray]]. If you want a modern fairy tale, with a princess who's a strong role model, you'll love [[The Princess Who Had No Kingdom by Ursula Jones and Sarah Gibb]]. Slightly older readers who enjoy royal romps will lap up [[Dungeon of Doom (Prince Jake) by Sue Mongredien and Mark Beech|Sue Mongredien's Prince Jake books]].

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[[Category:Kate Lum]]
[[Category:Sue Hellard]]