Book Box Thursday + Giveaway: Little Princess

Today, I'm sharing about a little girl, a princess actually, who is discovering about life and the wider world around her.

I didn't know about this popular series by Tony Ross before this, but as I discovered while reading the books with EV, Little Princess deals with issues that little girls like her face in their young lives.

So you can understand why, when I first discovered them on Little Good Books, a new online book store, I was rather hesitant about getting it.

But as I love to try new books, and I want to inculcate that in both EV and AA, I went for it.

For three books specifically: Can I Keep It?, I Want My Tooth! & I Want To Do It By Myself!

The day it arrived, I casually put the titles on the table in the study room, and in the book shelf in our bedroom. AA's internal homing device for all things new must be more acute than EV's, for the one on the table - Can I Keep It?, caught his attention almost immediately, I didn't even realise he took it. With a curious 'What's this?', he trotted out of the room, looking for his sister and of course got her interested as well. I knew I had to read it to them there and then. Later at night, EV discovered the other two titles in the bookshelf, and we had a good bonding time reading them several times over.

Of the three titles, EV likes 'I Want To Do It By Myself' the most. It has been on her 'must-read' bedtime story list for the past two weeks, amongst her other favourite Chinese books like 小猫当当. I think it's because it talks about the idea of independence and doing things all by herself, and it resonates with her because she's at an age when she's learning how to do so. Of course, there are times when she just gets plain lazy, even though she obviously knows how to do it herself.

I personally like 'I Want To Do It Myself' too. I like the humour in it. Little Princess sets off on an overnight camp, and even though people offer to help her carry her suitcases, and get to her destination, she insists on wanting to do it all by herself. The humor comes in the illustration, and it's obvious that her worried parents, the general, the admiral, the cook and other characters are secretly following her. When she reaches her chosen camp site, she realizes that she has forgotten to bring her tent, her pillows, tin and tin opener, and even her toothbrush and toothpaste. Unknown to her, the prime minister sets the tent up, the maid brings her pillows, the cook cooks her dinner, and even her toothbrush and toothpaste are secretly hidden under a bush. Even when she finds the tent pitched, the pillows set, the dinner cooked, she thinks that she had simply forgotten that she had done those tasks. She even thought that she put her toothbrush and toothpaste under the bush in her sleep. It's really quite funny how things miraculously works out for her. Perhaps EV also realizes that in her life, as she goes about her daily tasks, all of us who love her are there to offer the help when needed, and to guide her.

Her next preference is Can I Keep It?, probably because it also involves a frog. Yups, she has a certain liking of this little green creature, especially since she watched the musical The Frog Prince last year… 'ribbit ribbit ribbit hop hop hop hop'. She cannot forget this tune.

The tale is fairly simple - Little Princess finds a tadpole in the lake, and it becomes her favourite pet, enjoying a spot right next to her bed at bedtime. She likes it so much that it has replaced her other two pets - the cat and dog. It's quite funny how the cat and dog are illustrated as they try all sorts of antics to capture her attention, and love again. Then, she gets a shock when the tadpole finally becomes a frog, then starts calling out to its friends outside in the wild. The frog gets too noisy for Little Princess to bear, and she releases him back to the wild. 

It's a sweet story of how a little girl accepts responsibility for her new pet, but ignores the other pets, but gradually comes to appreciate them. At first, she behaves unreasonably as her parents give reasons why she shouldn't keep the tadpole. But after the tadpole becomes a frog and becomes too noisy, she realizes how special her cat and dog are. This was a learning point for us, as we discussed the appropriateness of Little Princess' behavior, and the importance of showing tender loving care to pets.

'I Want My Tooth' didn't really click with EV, perhaps because she's not yet at a stage when her teeth will drop. Despite this, it is good to keep, for when she reaches that stage. It takes a child-like perspectively to the notion of losing one's tooth, featuring the preoccupation one tends to have with a wobbly teeth. The only part that she found amusing was when Little Princess' missing tooth was 'found' on her little brother's. I think that is something she cane somewhat understand, since she's a big sister herself.

Illustrations in the Little Princess series are seriously funny. Just look at this image above. Doesn't it just bring a smile to your face? The illustrations really bring out the essence and meaning of the stories, especially the vivid facial expressions. Without it, I don't think that Little Princess would have the same effect as it did. Not only that, the illustrations also provide opportunities for discussions to develop visual literacy. For example, for 'I Want To Do It Myself', attention can be directed to the details of the people secretly 'guarding' Little Princess from their hiding places - a pointed nose from behind a shrub or even a palm next to the toothbrush and toothpaste. Questions like 'What do you think is happening here' and 'Whose palm do you think this' can also be asked during bedtime chat.

Both EV and I truly enjoyed this series, and it has earned a place on our list of 'good reads'.

Giveaway!!!

Want to read some of Little Princess' adventures? Here's your chance one of three Little Princess books, kindly sponsored by Little Good Books. There are three Rafflecopter widgets, so decide which book(s) you'd like to grab a hold of, and follow the instructions to enter. Good luck!

Terms and conditions:
- Entries that do not fulfill the requirements stated will be disqualified without notice.
- Winners will be notified by email, through the email address provided in the Rafflecopter widgets.
- Winners must confirm by reply email, within three days. Otherwise, a new winner will be picked.
- This giveaway is open to Singapore residents only.
- Giveaway starts on 13 March and ends on 27 March (inclusive) at midnight.
- Winners will be announced on this post and my Facebook page by 31 March.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: Little Good Books sponsored three Little Princess titles for the purpose of this review. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions  and images are my own.

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