Gillian Rogerson (text) & Sarah McIntyre (illustrations)
(Scholastic)

When King Cupcake is captured by a crew of the baddest, meanest pirates in the whole wide word, there is only one person fit to go and rescue him: his daughter, feisty and fearless Princess Spaghetti! Captain Waffle may think he is the boldest pirate to sail the seas, but he might just have met his match and the princess soon has his whole crew turned into babbling wrecks! But Princess Spaghetti might be brave, but she is also kind and won’t leave those scurvy pirates without teaching them how to have a bit of fun first!

Princess Spaghetti is back, hip hip hip hurrah! Ever since we first met this lovely heroine in You Can’t Eat a Princess! (see my review here) we have been waiting with baited breath for a second adventure, and here it is at last! And how could you not love these books? There is something so utterly happy about the two stories, in the most exuberant and silly sense of the word. Gillian Rogerson has managed to keep the fun, quirky tone of the first story for this second adventure and it is a delight to read. Sarah McIntyre’s illustrations mirror the jovial tone of the story perfectly. Her artwork oozes zealous fun: the colours used are bright and vibrant, and her style is, as ever, fun, child-friendly and so utterly conducive to a big grin on its readers’ faces! I really love the variety of characters she created for the crew of pirates too; my favourite is the lady pirate, she is just so cool!

What is great about the Princess Spaghetti books is how they play with readers’ assumptions. Princess Spaghetti might be all blond curls, pink and frills but she is no shrinking violet! Resourceful, brave and loyal, but with a kind heart too and a big sense of forgiveness, this is one princess who can look after herself, and as I had said in my review of the first title, it is refreshing to see that liking pink is not synonym to being an airhead! The same goes for the pirates who project a very hard exterior (as pirates do!) and yet are very sensitive inside (bless them!). I think this play on false appearances is a great delight for young children.
Another strength of You Can’t Scare a Princess! is how it manages to bring together two themes which are usually so gender-specific: pink princesses and nasty pirates! This results in the book being appealing to both boys and girls and it certainly is a great success in the Library Mice household.

This is a great second offering from the Gillian Rogerson/Sarah McIntyre partnership. If you have not come across Princess Spaghetti yet, what are you waiting for? I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Please stop by Sarah’s website and her special page for You Can’t Scare a Princess! Sarah creates amazing activity sheets for each of her books and they are available to download on the site. You will also get the chance to watch Sarah talk about the book. You can visit her site here.

All illustrations © Sarah McIntyre

Thank you to Scholastic for sending me a review copy of “You Can’t Eat a Princess!”

Be sure to come back tomorrow for Sarah’s Fabulous Five, it is going to be a good one!

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