The Hales translate the humor and adventure that characterize their Rapunzel’s Revenge into prose form for a younger audience with aplomb and wit, giving amusing nods to both the Disney princess tradition and the superhero genre. Clever details (Duff and his goats eat popcorn on the sidelines as they watch the PIB do her thing) and short manageable sentences make for a promising, and sure to be wildly popular, new series debut. Pham’s watercolor-and-ink illustrations, rendered in the style of the Disney classics, effectively contrast Magnolia’s identities and emphasize the text’s humor. The authors of 'Rapunzel’s Revenge' and 'Calamity Jack,' writing here for a slightly younger audience, successfully turn the treacly princess genre on its ear, offering beginning readers a clever, adventurous, and self-reliant heroine who is equally at home in black or pink. Action, clever humor, delightful illustrations and expectation-defying secret identities-when does the next one come out? The large print and illustrations expand the book to a longish-yet-manageable length, giving newly independent readers a sense of accomplishment. The gently ironic text will amuse readers (including adults reading the book aloud). The rounded, cartoony illustrations featuring chubby characters keep the fight sequence soft and comical. This charmingly told book has lovely old-fashioned illustrations and a great message: You can’t judge a princess by the color of her gown.

The princess in black by shannon hale