Princess Pulverizer 8 – Yo-Ho, Yo…NO!

Nancy Krulik's eighth Princess Pulverizer book is a swashbuckling pirate adventure for 7 year olds about a princess who is one good deed away from her dream.

What happens

Princess Pulverizer wants to be a knight, not a princess. Her father, King Alexander, has agreed she can go to Knight School once she's done eight good deeds on her Quest of Kindness. With her friends Lucas and Dribble the dragon, she's done seven.

Number eight starts with a sad song drifting across a beach. A mermaid called Meri is tangled in a net tied to a pirate ship. She's not a dreamy, gentle mermaid either (she's grumpy and tough and says "sheesh" a lot).

The princess starts making a speech about her sword skills instead of just cutting Meri free. Big mistake. Before she's finished, all three friends are prisoners of Cap'n Bobbie on The Seasick Soaker, the smelliest, leakiest ship on the sea. Which is why this one's called Yo-Ho, Yo...NO!

Life on board is very funny. Lucas swabs the deck, Dribble makes cheese toasties for the crew, and the princess is put in charge of rowers who aren't going anywhere. The pirates have names like Three-Toed Tommy and Wiggle-Butt Willy. The cook is furious that everyone prefers the dragon's cooking. And a parrot called Parry is secretly spying on them.

What's lovely is seeing how much the princess has grown by now. She's still bossy and she still loves a plan. But she's trying hard not to brag, and when it matters she puts her friends first.

There's some pirate peril. Cap'n Bobbie holds her sword to the princess's throat, and there's talk of walking the plank with hungry sharks below. It's storybook pirate peril rather than anything grim, but a very sensitive reader might want a hand to hold.

If they've followed the whole Quest of Kindness, they'll be rooting for her all the way to the final pages. Will King Alexander keep his promise?

What to read next

If you're coming to the series fresh, it's worth going back to where the quest began. In Grilled Cheese and Dragons the princess is stuck at the Royal School of Ladylike Manners, swinging from the rafters instead of learning how to hold a teacup.