Princesses Can Fix It!

by Tracy Marchini, Julia Christians (Illustrator)

Overview

The castle is crawling with wayward alligators, and the clueless king doesn’t know how to fix it. Lila, Margaret, and Harriet have lots of ideas, but their father won’t listen! According to him, the Princesses should be focusing on proper pursuits like drawing, jewelry, and music. When the three girls start falling asleep during the day, the King sends the Prince to investigate …

What he discovers is that the three princesses are gathering at night to use their knowledge of the six simple machines to invent an ingenious alligator removal contraption in their secret workshop.

This STEAM-focused take on the classic fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses includes fun illustrations bursting with hilarious detail (and alligators), zany characters, and three inspiring princesses who know that they have what takes to save the day.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781645672142
Publisher:	Page Street Publishing
Publication date:	05/04/2021
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.63(w) x 10.93(h) x 0.45(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Tracy Marchini has worked in many areas of the children’s book industry including as a freelance editor and a children’s book reviewer, and currently as a literary agent and author. She received her MFA in writing for children from Simmons College, and is the author of Chicken Wants a Nap (which received a starred review from Kirkus).

Julia Christians studied communications design at the University of Art in Brunswick, focusing on illustration, and works as a full-time illustrator. She lives with her husband, kids, and a pack of dogs in the small town in the Harz Mountains, Germany where she grew up.

Editorial Reviews

"A fix for tired gender roles." — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2021-03-17
A princess picture book fixed on smashing gender stereotypes.

Despite his pastel pink coiffure, the King in this story subscribes to rigid gender roles when it comes to his son and three daughters. (Like her father, one princess appears White while the other two have brown skin and dark hair; the prince is cued East Asian.) When the castle is overrun by alligators, the King rejects the notion that the princesses might be able to get them back into the moat, declaring, “Alligator problems are a job for the King.” Christians’ energetic cartoon art humorously depicts the havoc the alligators create in the castle while also hinting at the princesses’ clandestine efforts to build something to deal with the animals. Meanwhile, Prince Edward is “tired of only doing Proper Princely things,” and he starts a sewing project to enable him to spy on his sisters’ plan. The King remains stubbornly oblivious to his children’s activities, even when Edward tries to clue him in, providing ample humor for readers to enjoy. The text makes use of a humorous refrain that punctuates the goings-on: “At breakfast, Margaret washed pencil lines from her face. Harriet brushed sawdust from her clothes. Lila fell asleep in her oatmeal. And Edward hurried to the King….” A slapstick resolution cements the princesses’ ingenuity while obliterating any perception of them as stereotypical ingénues.

A fix for tired gender roles. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews