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Philippa Gregory's The Princess Rules is a funny fairy-tale collection for 6 year olds about a princess who'd much rather ride her horse than wait to be rescued.
Princess Florizella's parents wanted a boy. They got a girl, and then they got fairy-tale parenting completely wrong. Nobody cursed her at her christening. Nobody locked her in a tower. So she grew up cheerful, noisy and bossy, riding her horse Jellybean every morning and helping with the royal letters in the afternoon.
Her friends follow the Princess Rules. They have very long golden hair and tiny silk shoes, and they drink hot water for breakfast because princesses are supposed to live off air. They're also VERY bored.
In the first story Florizella goes to Prince Bennett's ball, where 121 princesses hope he'll pick them. She mostly goes for the food. She has seconds and thirds of everything while everyone else nibbles bread and butter! Bennett ends up asking her to marry him. She says no, thank you. They'll be best friends instead.
Her parents are furious, the king locks her in her room, and Bennett climbs up the ivy to rescue her... and she sends him straight back down again. Then a two-headed dragon grabs Bennett. Guess who has to go and save him?
In the next story Florizella gets lost in a storm and shelters in a cave, which turns out to belong to a family of wolves.
It's made for reading aloud, with plenty of jokes for the grown-ups too (the queen was once tied to a rock for three days waiting for the king to turn up). The message is kind and very clear. Girls get to choose, and being yourself beats following silly rules.
The dragon fight is done with swords, and there's green dragon blood. In the wolf story the grown-up wolves are killed by a hunter off the page, and their cubs are left hungry. It's told gently and Florizella does something lovely about it, but a very tender animal lover might want you close by.
If they want more Florizella, It’s a Prince Thing gives her a brand-new baby brother, delivered by stork, who's supposed to inherit HER kingdom.
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