Cuddle the Cutest Kitten: Princess Party Sleepover

Hayley Daze's Princess Party Sleepover is a sweet, sparkly magic adventure for 6 year olds about two best friends who can't agree on princesses.

What happens

It's Olivia and Grace's first ever sleepover. Olivia twirls in her pink nightie and wants to play princesses. Grace thinks being a princess means boring parties and having to wear dresses. "Yuck!"

Then a sunbeam comes through the window, and they hear a jingling bell. It's Cuddle, the little black-and-white kitten with the crooked tail, and when she purrs, the girls get whisked off on an adventure.

This time they land outside a palace in the middle of a masked ball. There's someone rustling about at the top of a tree. It isn't a thief or a ghost. It's Princess Victoria, in ripped trousers and bare feet, and she'll do anything to get out of going to the ball!

So now the princess-mad girl and the princess-hating girl have to team up. Grace wins Victoria round the only way she knows, with a race up a tree and a pretend pirate sword fight. And Cuddle has a little magic of her own to help things along (floating dresses, and masks that appear in a shower of glitter).

There's a kind maid called Beth too, who's sure she isn't allowed anywhere near the ball. Her turn at the ball is one of the nicest bits.

What's really nice is the message underneath. Olivia and Grace each try the other one's thing and find it's more fun than they expected. And when Victoria asks if she'll still be allowed to climb trees, the queen tells her they'd never stop her being who she is. There's no telling off anyone for liking the "wrong" things.

The chapters are short, the sentences are simple and there's a lovely cosy ending with a midnight feast. It's great for reading together at bedtime, or for a newly independent reader who loves cats, dressing up or both.

What to read next

You don't need the other Cuddle stories to follow this one. But if they fall for Cuddle, the first Cuddle the Cutest Kitten book is where Olivia and Grace meet over the garden fence and Cuddle first appears on a pile of cardboard boxes.