The Princess in Black

Title: The Princess in Black

Bibliographic information:

Author: Shannon and Dean Hale

Illustrator: LeUyen Pham

• Series: Princess in Black
• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick (April 14, 2015)
• Language: English

Reader's Annotation:

Princess Magnolia is a seemingly perfect princess - she wears big poofy dresses, and takes tea with duchesses. But when the monster alarm sounds - who answers the call?  Magnolia dons her stealth clothing and becomes the Princess in Black!

Interest Level: Ages 4-8

Lexile level: 400

Awards, if applicable: Not Applicable

Plot summary: Princess Magnolia is attempting to have tea with the Duchess of Wigtower… when *BRRRING!!* the Monster Alarm sounds! A giant blue monster will eat up all the goats, unless he is defeated by The Princess in Black.  Magnolia dashes to the secret passageway, quickly changes into her superhero costume, and goes off to fight the monster.  Meanwhile, back at the palace, the nosy Duchess is trying to find anything to prove that Magnolia isn’t a perfect pink princess.  Can the Princess in Black defeat the monsters - and still get back in time to keep her secret identity from the nosy Duchess?

Critical review: LeUyen Pham’s art takes center stage in this striking work.  The character of Princess Magnolia is especially well done, with enough common elements between Princess Magnolia and the Princess in Black to make the character easily recognizable to a young audience.  Likewise, the characters of the monsters are illustrated in such a way as to make them threatening without being scary.

Why include it?

It’s inevitable - younger sisters see their older siblings reading Hale’s Princess Academy or Ever After High books, and they want a princess book of their very own. This is a wonderful story for that reader.  The Princess in Black is a thoroughly modern fairy tale, with a proactive princess who fights off monsters and still has time for tea.