Part-time Princess by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Cambria Evans. Disney Hyperion Books, 2013. ISBN 978-1-4231-2485-6
Summary: When we first meet the young protagonist, she is having a completely normal day: spelling tests, a pesky younger brother, and not being allowed to do things like stomp in mud puddles. But at the stroke of midnight, when the world is asleep, she becomes a princess and travels to her kingdom by coach. She is no ordinary princess, all frilly and pink; instead, she rushes off to put out a dragon-set fire.
After discovering that the dragon is irritated because of its own annoying younger brother, the princess invites him to tea and makes a new friend. After eating lots of pink cake with a visiting queen (who resembles her mother), and splashing about with the frogs in the Royal Mud Puddle, the princess and the queen prepare for the Royal Ball, where the princess saves the day again by making a group of hairy trolls feel at home.
When she meets a handsome prince, this spunky heroine considers marrying him one day, "but right now I'm too busy". She truly is, because she rushes off immediately to put out another fire. When the flames have been doused, she returns home to her bed and to begin another day as a normal girl. Was it her mom who visited her the day before as a queen? And why do they both have sparkles in their hair? Young readers will love puzzling out the connections between the princess' two worlds.
Critical Evaluation: This story is a wonderful counterpoint to the typical princess story and shows that girls can demonstrate bravery, ingenuity and heroism, without being limited by the constraints of a traditional feminine role. While the princess loves eating cake, and dressing up for the ball, she also saves the kingdom repeatedly from disaster, and romps wildly in mud puddles. This message, which highlights the strength that can be found in the character of girls and women, is an important one for young girls to hear.
Evans' cartoon-like illustrations are drawn with a light hand, and her palette is made up mostly of pinks, purples, and greens, with plenty of sparkling accents, but the overall mood of the work is not overly girly, as there is plenty of action and high-spiritedness as well.
The narrative is paced nicely to keep the attention of even very young girls, and turns many of the typical aspects of fairy tales upside down with light humor and creativity. This is an empowering tale that encourages girls to reach outside the boundaries of what is expected of them, and to become the very best possible version of their true selves.
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