The Rescue Princesses 5 – The Snow Jewel

Paula Harrison's The Snow Jewel is a wintry Rescue Princesses adventure for 7 year olds about a lonely princess and a kitten who simply will NOT stay put.

What happens

It's the fifth book in the series. Princess Freya lives in the snowy kingdom of Northernland, where her dad likes to stay at home and the castle is usually very quiet. This winter he's invited everyone, and Freya is desperate to make some friends her own age.

She finds four princesses sledging down the hill. Within minutes she's crash-landed in a snowdrift and Lulu has let slip their big secret. They're the Rescue Princesses!

Freya has animals of her own to show them. A mother cat and six kittens are living in a box of jumpers in her bedroom. The naughtiest is Minky, with four white paws and a habit of vanishing under the duvet.

Then King Eric finds a hole chewed in his slipper. The cats are sent out to the garden shed. Freya is heartbroken (and not at all sure the shed is warm enough).

So the princesses sneak out at midnight to check. There's a hole in the shed roof, snow falling on the kittens and a long cold trek to smuggle them back inside under their coats.

Back inside the castle, they bump into three princes with a torch, on their way to raid the kitchen. Cue a lot of very loud, very fake yawning to cover up the meows. It's one of the funniest bits!

Freya also wears a pale white jewel on a ribbon, left to her by her mum. A note says it will protect her against ice and snow. What could that possibly mean?

It's lovely to read about a shy girl finding her people. The others make her feel welcome straight away. If your reader has ever hovered at the edge of a game, wanting to join in, they'll know exactly how that feels.

It's worth knowing that Freya's mum died when she was a baby. It's mentioned once, early on. Later Minky gets stuck on a branch over a frozen river, and Freya climbs up after her. A branch snaps under her feet and she only just catches herself.

That's as scary as it gets before the big rescue. A child who frets about animals in danger may want you nearby for that chapter. Plenty of others will be on the edge of their seat.

What to read next

If they'd like to stay with this crew, The Magic Rings comes next. Emily's nosy little sister Lottie, who turns up here asking for sweets, gets handed the secret and has to start a team of her own.