School Library Journal (September 1, 2010)
Gr 2 Up-The team who dreamed up the hilarious There's a Wolf at the Door (Roaring Brook, 2008) is back with princess fairy tales that are as fluid as they are fractured. This colorful, oversize graphic novel is packed with puns, witticisms, and sarcastic asides. It opens as Cinderella-whose real name turns out to be Ashley-tries on the glass slipper and it fits. "My princess! Marry me!" says handsome Prince Dennis. "My prince! Okay!" says Cinderella. Before you know it, they have a daughter. A certain witch who is not invited to the christening casts a spell and-voila!-Princess Dawn becomes Sleeping Beauty. She is something of a spoiled brat and wakes to the kiss of another handsome prince-one who takes himself far too seriously. But she's not ready to make a commitment, so off she goes into the woods, where she invades the house of seven dwarfs and turns into Snow White. Wouldn't you know it, the same witch who put her whole household to sleep now offers her a poisoned apple. The serious prince once again engages in mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and this time S.B./S.W.'s ready for marriage. Her daughter falls in love with a frog, and her granddaughter is forced to sleep on a mountain of mattresses concealing a terribly uncomfortable pea. Two mice provide a clever running commentary in all five tales, and the witch who appears throughout gradually undergoes a dramatic change of lifestyle. Marvelous for anyone with a wry sense of humor, There's a Princess in the Palace deserves a place in every library.-Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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