Leah Wilcox (text) & Lydia Monks (illustrations)
(Puffin)
Once upon a bad hair day, a prince rode up Rapunzel’s way.
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, throw down your hair!”
She thought he said,
“Your underwear”
If you are looking for a humorous take on the traditional fairy-tale, this one is definitely the one for you. Hard-of-hearing Rapunzel becomes increasingly confused when the prince below is asking for rather unusual things. The rhyming text is one of my all-time favourites to read aloud. It is clever, fun and flows so easily, it is as much fun reading it as it is listening to it. It is also quite short so will delight younger children too. Lydia Monks’s illustrations complement the text perfectly. The bright colours give extra vitality to the story and that prince’s bewildered face is just marvellous:
There is a lot of pink in the illustrations, and one might be mistaken into thinking this is a girly book but do not be fooled: the humour makes it a universal read.
Of course, there is love at the end of the story (although the Prince might not find where he originally sought it) so this is a perfect fun read for Valentine’s Day too.
Warmly recommended.
