Princess Pigsty - Hardcover

Cornelia Funke is a critically acclaimed, award-winning, international best-selling author. She lives in Los Angeles, USA with her family and a dog called Loonie! Kerstin Meyer lives in Germany and is a well-known children's book illustrator in Europe. This is her fourth Chicken House picture book after The Princess Knight, Pirate Girl and The Wildest Brother.

Kindergarten-Grade 2—Princess Isabella is tired of being pampered, and of sitting around being pretty. She wants to climb trees, wear pants, and make her own sandwiches. She wants to have fun. One morning, after she throws her crown in the fishpond and refuses to be a royal anymore, her father orders her to work in the kitchens for punishment. For three days she is happy doing chores, and when the king sends for her, she refuses to retrieve her regal headdress. This time he sends her to the pigsty. Isabella likes this work even better—the pigs are smart and interesting. When her father sends for her again, she not only refuses to get her crown, but also to put on a dress or comb her hair. That evening the king tells his daughter that she may do what makes her happy as long as she returns to the castle because he misses her. This sweet and amusing tale makes use of bold type that resembles handwriting to emphasize important words such as "boring," "pinched," "stink," and "pigsty." The comical watercolor illustrations are replete with royal reds, golds, and purples. They clearly depict the expressions of the characters in an entertaining and refreshing way. Pair this one with Robert Munsch's The Paper Bag Princess (Annick, 1992) for a storytime about independent-minded royals.—Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH
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