Princess Disgrace: A Royal Disaster

Lou Kuenzler's A Royal Disaster is the first Princess Disgrace book, a giggly school story for 6 year olds about the clumsiest princess ever to arrive at Tall Towers.

What happens

Grace comes from Cragland, a tiny, snowy kingdom full of yaks and warriors. She turns up for her first day at princess school wearing a huge yak-fur cloak, and the other princesses think she's a monster! Then she falls flat on her bottom trying to curtsy.

Grace isn't elegant or graceful at all. She's tall and gangly with very big feet, and she trips over just about everything. Her snooty cousin Precious is horrified to see her. She calls Grace a total disgrace, and the name sticks.

Worse still, nobody has Grace down on the list. There are only ever twelve princesses in a class, and she's number thirteen. The headmistress says the unicorns will decide. If no unicorn chooses Grace, she has to go home.

That unicorn scene is SO good. One by one the others are picked by beautiful white and golden unicorns, and Grace is left holding a squashed, dripping peach. Then something comes crashing out of the forest, covered in twigs. Billy the shaggy unicorn is just right for her (he's just as clumsy).

There's so much here that little readers will love. Dolphins pull the school boat. There are midnight feasts in an attic dorm, deportment lessons with a book on your head, and a very giggly chat about Grace's spotty knickers. Her new friends, kind, worried Scarlet and quiet, arty Izumi, are exactly the friends you'd want.

What makes it more than just a funny book is Grace herself. She's cheerful and brave and never pretends to be something she isn't. Precious cares how big your kingdom is. Grace just wants to be kind, and she's always the one who laughs first.

Grace lost her mum when she was small. It's mentioned gently, and a kind fairy godmother shares her memories of her.

What to read next

If they like a girl who's hopeless at the thing she's supposed to be good at, Lou Kuenzler has another one. Bella Broomstick is the most hopeless young witch in the whole Magic Realm (her aunt tells her so every morning).