Vernon, Ursula. Of Mice and Magic (Hamster Princess #2)March 15th 2016 by Dial Books
E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline
When an elderly lady approaches Harriet, Harriet is suspicious that the woman is a fairy, so shares her lunch and is kind. When she proves to be correct, the fairy has a quest for her-- she is to find out why the 12 princesses are wearing through so many shoes, and no one can figure out why. Harriet, with her inimitable style, befriends the princesses and undertakes the quest. She doesn't care about winning the hand of a princess, although half the kingdom would be nice, but since she can no longer engage in cliff-jumping, she has nothing better to do. With the help of Wilbur, who has taken a job at the castle because his own kingdom ins in financial need, she manages to uncover the secret and free the princesses from the real problem... their father!
Strengths: It is impossible to do justice to how fabulous Harriet is! She is snarky, resourceful, and loves adventure. She redefines what being a hamster princess really is! The first book in this series, Harriet the Invincible, is aggressively pink, and I love to recommend it to all of the boys in my school so that they expand their horizons. They all end up loving it, and hopefully this teaches them not to have preconceived notions about gender. Fun fairy tale retellings, poking gentle fun at traditional stories as well. Every library needs this series!
Weaknesses: In order to get the pictures on my Nook, I had to read this with about 6 point font. It made me cranky, and also reluctant to go back and look for amusing things that Harriet says!
What I really think: I love everything Vernon does and can't wait to see what comes next.
I do need to read these as they sound fantastic. Also... hope you aren't out too long. You can still write these marvelous reviews while students push you around.
ReplyDeleteThis does sound like a fun one. I'll have to look for the first book. Come see my reading week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteAnything by Ursula Vernon never fails to please in my library. I'll buy everything she does.
ReplyDeleteI have the first Hamster Princess to read; I loved Vernon's Dragonbreath, so I look forward to reading this one!
ReplyDeleteHappy reading this week!
I just love Ursula Vernon's work. Not so much for me as a reader (although I did read the first in the Dragonbreath series) but because her work is so appealing to my readers from grade 3 on up to 7! Unfortunately, my copy of the first in this series has gone missing. I guess when I order this one, I'll have to order another one of it.
ReplyDeleteCute! I haven't read any of the books in this series, though it definitely looks like a kid pleaser!
ReplyDeleteI laughed how you said that it made you cranky. I get really cranky when the formatting is too wacky on my Kindle. I completely understand you!
ReplyDeleteI didn't even know this series existed. Nice concept. Will have to check Ursula Vernon's works.
ReplyDeleteThese sound great. I have not read either Dragonbreath or Hamster Princess may have to do a special post one day for Ursula Vernon books.
ReplyDelete