Do Not Panic the Pixies

Michelle Robinson's Do Not Panic the Pixies is a very silly knightly adventure for 5 year olds about a princess who REALLY wants to win.

What happens

Grace Wonder is a princess, a knight and the realm's troll-o champion. She's off camping at Questival with her sister Portia, and she's determined to bring home the Golden Plume. Her grumpy unicorn Poop has other ideas. (Tell him to hurry up and he'll walk backwards. Tell him NOT to come and he'll carry your bag.)

When they arrive, the pixies swarm round Grace chanting her name. Pixies almost always pick the winner! Then a young giant called Mondo Colossa stomps into camp, and the pixies drop Grace in a flash. Mondo can swing a mallet, fire three arrows at once and pin a tail on a stick man, all at the same time.

Grace does NOT take it well. Every plan she comes up with to win the pixies back goes wrong in a gloriously messy way, and a lot of them end with someone covered in dragon dung.

The pixies' cheeky little rhymes are a big part of the fun. When they sing that Mondo has a golden foot, Grace points out crossly that boot doesn't even rhyme with foot. And if your house enjoys a fart joke, Poop's trumps (roses first, then rotten eggs) will go down very well.

What's lovely is that your reader can see what Grace can't. Mondo is kind whenever nobody's looking, and she seems quite lonely in her huge striped tent. Portia keeps noticing. Grace keeps grumbling. Have you ever watched a child decide someone new is their arch-rival within about five minutes? It's a very gentle way of talking about being a good sport, without ever feeling like a lesson.

This is a later Princess Grace adventure, so it's worth starting with Do Not Disturb the Dragons, where Grace's story begins.

What to read next

For another royal who'd much rather be doing something else, try Once Upon a Prank, the first Prince Not-So Charming book. Prince Carlos wants to be a jester, not a knight, and his big comedy show for his dad ends with him slipping over in a puddle of egg.