Review by Booklist Review
From the cover alone, crowded with familiar wolves, frogs, and the like, readers will deduce that Lammle's latest celebrates fairy tales and imaginative play. It features Fern, a young girl who would like to be read a book before bed. When her babysitter is too busy, Fern steps into her own enchanted imagination to find out what it's really like to be a princess. Lammle's story and illustrations are filled with winding and wooded pathways, classic creatures (the Frog Prince, the Big Bad Wolf), and diverting details (the Fairy Godmother is pictured as preoccupied with packaging up fairy dust). Lammle presents Fern as being surprised by some of these characters, as when the Wolf benevolently babysits three young pigs, but never hesitant about her goal. When she finds the Princess, who longs to read books rather than be fussed over, Fern comes to appreciate her own books and stuffed-animal friends. A bedtime story that bodes well for sweet, empowering dreams.--Nolan, Abby Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-Although Fern's babysitter tells her that princess stories "all end the same way," the wannabe princess states with her usual stubbornness, "I prefer to find out for myself." Her quest begins as independent Fern wanders directly into a world of books and her vivid imagination with a simple sneeze (from fairy dust) and the advice of an informative fairy godmother. A soft pastel palette of watercolor, acrylic, and pencil accentuate expressions and detail amid a host of easily recognizable folk- and fairy-tale characters, some in a starring role and others hidden in the spreads. The Troll at the Bridge, Big Bad Wolf, Three Blind Mice, Mother Goose, Humpty Dumpty, the Frog Prince, and even a Dish and Spoon appear as the youngster travels across an enchanted forest to the nearest castle, always asking questions of some oddly different fairy-tale characters on the way. The result is a lively banter of intriguing dialogue and humor amid dragons, fairies, and woodland creatures as Fern's path crosses into a fantasy world in which the forest trees obscure the smelly feet and club of a giant, a large wolf "pigsits" for friends, or a "real" princess (who looks oddly familiar) explains what life is really like for young royals. Endpages with a look of woodcuts and populated with familiar characters introduce and conclude Fern's lively adventure in fairyland.-Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Thanks to some fairy dust, a contemporary princess wannabe with an independent attitude enters her storybook and discovers that a princess's life isn't as wonderful as she imagined. Playful illustrations offer glimpses of off-duty folk- and fairy-tale characters, such as the Frog Prince and the Big Bad Wolf; the revelation of what they do after working hours makes for entertaining reading. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
