The rhyming text sets a good pace, starting with “Ten little princesses, going to a ball, trotting on their ponies, past the castle wall”. With each new page a small tragedy befalls one of the Disney-esk princesses, allowing the readers to count down backwards from ten with the number of princesses left shown in both alpha and numerical form on the next page.
A poisoned apple, a big bad wolf, a beast and a few other dramas later, we are left with one sad, lonely and bedraggled princess. Thankfully, there is not a prince in sight though, our princess instead “makes a special call, she rings her Fairy God Mum on her mobile crystal ball”.
It was incredibly gratifying to see the little princess seeking her own way out of a sticky situation instead of waiting to be rescued, with Fairy God Mum’s help enabling the princesses all to arrive in time to enjoy the ball.
If you love this book as much as my family does, there is also Ten Little Pirates (which wonderfully features five little girl pirates and five little boy pirates), Ten Little Dinosaurs and I’m very excited to have discovered Ten Little Monsters and Ten Little Elves to be released later this year.
Title: Ten Little Princesses
Author: Mike Brownlow
Illustrator: Simon Rickerty
Publisher: Orchard Books, $14.99 RRP
Publication Date: 2015
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781408330128
For ages: 2+
Type: Picture Book
