There is a lenghty review at SLJ that sums up my thoughts on the book quite nicely. Most importantly, I do appreciate that "Anabel. . .not, Anabella," the protagonist, finds happiness in creating something beautiful for someone else, the princess, rather than actually becoming the princess, as seems to hold true in many fairy tales. Additionally, Floca richly illustrates many sites of Firenze, or Florence.
I mean . . . how cool is this?
Maddy loves:
- The princess's name, Isabella Caramella Gorgonzola. Cracks her up each time!
- The thimble-sized Hinky-Pink who has a flower petal as a blanket.
- The repetition of the Hinky-Pink's dialog.
- The use of Italian words or phrases throughout the book, especially, caramella, santo cielo!, farfalla.
- The allusion to the princess & the pea.
SLJ Starred Review
4 comments:
Hmm, I'm thinking my little guy might even like it. After all, he is crazy for the caramelle!!-- K
Hooray, another book to add to our Italy list. I love the look of the illustrations and the whole idea of a heroine who isn't the princess! Feel free to e-mail me about the Disney stuff...I have a couple of suggestions and we are headed back in April (my husband has a conference) so we can scout out a few more things.
We just picked it up from the library yesterday and it is a big hit! Thanks for the recommendation. Great illustrations and nice story line. I think we'll end up buying a copy of this book.
Ohhh. . .that's so good to hear!
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