The Return of the Queen

I haven't updated this blog in awhile - a loooooong while! Frankly, I didn't really think it mattered. But recently a couple of people have commented on how this site has been useful to them AND I have used it as a reference point for several of my students.

So without further ado, I announce... "The Return of the Queen" who will again post "Royal Reads" for those on the quest for literary treasures - after all, this is The Kingdom of Books!

And since today the Queen returns, the theme for this post of Royal Reads will be... ROYALTY!

ROYAL READ # 1...

CATEGORY: Fairy Tales
Type: Novel
Audience: YA

This fractured fairy tale - filled with adventure, suspense, magic, war, and romance - twists things up with a strong-willed, independent main character, Princess Benevolance (or Ben for short) who is not your ordinary princess. In fact, she is anything BUT ordinary, much to the dismay of the Queen, her aunt, who is charged with raising her after Ben's parents are killed on a royal outing. As war looms as a result of these deaths, Ben will be put to the test and must rise above her challenges if there is any hope to save her kingdom.

ONLINE CONNECTIONS:

Fun Facts on the Author's Website

http://www.catherinemurdock.com/catherinemurdock/PB_about_book.html

ROYAL READ # 2...

CATEGORY: Fairy Tales
Type: Novel (book 1 in a series)
Audience: 4th grade and up

After agreeing to kiss a talking frog, Princess Emma faces an unexpected turn of events when she herself becomes a frog. Together, Emma and Eadric (the frog she puckered up too) set out to find the witch who cast the spell that now holds both of them under its power. Of course, the world is a dangerous place, even for talking frogs, and to survive this journey Emma and Eadric will have to rely on each other.

Online Connections:

Author's website:
http://www.edbakerbooks.com/

Disney version - The Princess and the Frog games
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/princessandthefrog/index_full.html

And ROYAL READ #3...

Other great princess themed books:
The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch (picture book)
Princess Smartypants by Babette Cole (picture book)
Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude by Carol Heyer (picture book)
The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (chapter book)
Lady Lollipop by Dick King-Smith (chapter book)

Fun and fractured versions of Cinderella:
Bubba the Cowboy Prince by Helen Ketteman (picture book)
Joe Cinders by Marianne Mitchell (picture book)
Fanny's Dream by Carolyn Buehner (picture book)
Cinder Edna by Ellen Jackson (picture book)
Bigfoot Cinderrrrella by Tony Johnston (picture book)
Cinderella Penguin by Janet Perlman (picture book)
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (chapter book)
Cinderellis and the Glass Hill by Gail Carson Levine (chapter book)
I Was a Rat by Philip Pullman (chapter book)