Princess! Fairy! Ballerina!

Reviewed by: Deidre Walsh - Goodall Library, Sanford, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: November 8, 2016

Review

The cover alone will have this book flying off the shelves. It is blue, green, pink and glittery! This is a story of three young friends who get together to play. Each girl has her own idea of what they should play. One girl thinks they should all play Princess! and all that that entails, including riding unicorns. The other girl thinks they should all play Fairy!. And that should include magic, fairy dust and flying frogs. The third girl thinks they should all play Ballerina! and that means lots of pretty costumes and applause. They cannot agree what to play and now the three friends are upset with each other. Soon it starts to rain outside. All the girls suddenly have the same idea. Off comes the wings, tiara, and tutu. They are soon playing Princess! Fairy! Ballerina! outside in the rain and enjoying the wind and the puddles. This is a wonderful story about friendship and compromise. The text does not rhyme, but it flows like a magical stream. The story is equally paired with the brilliant illustrations. The illustrations are beautiful, happy, and colorful. They do more than enhance the text. They add another dimension to it. The princess loving friend dresses in blue, the word princess in the text is blue, and the door of her house is blue. The fairy loving friend has green vines on her house, dresses in green, and the word fairy is in green. The ballerina loving friend dresses in pink, has pink curtains in her house, and the word princess is in pink. The text that goes with each of their characters is in the corresponding color as well. Each girl is given about three pages to convince their friends why they should play their particular game. The illustrations on those pages are even color coordinated to go with each girl's preferences. When they all go outside to play in the rain their green, pink, and blue combine together in the puddles. This illustrates that the girls compromised and are truly playing together. It is very subtle but effective. And despite the compromise each girl still manages to stay true to their own individuality. Brilliant. Young children may not pick up on all of this. They will be focused on the fact that this is a story about princesses, fairies and ballerinas. But the adult readers sure will pick up on it and enjoy the reading all the more. This will work wonderfully in any setting. Pair it with Jane Yolen's "How Do Dinosaurs Stay Friends" and Mary Lundquist's "Cat and Bunny" for a story time about friendship. It could be used in a classroom setting as an introduction to friendship and how to be a good friend. This is a first purchase for all libraries.

Overall Book Score: excellent