
Book Title: The Princess Rules (available here)
Author: Philippa Gregory
Illustrator: Chris Chatterton
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: Nov 2019
Most Suitable For: Years 2-4
Reviewed By: Angela Kent
Originally written by Philippa Gregory for her daughter, and now (20 years later) reimagined for her grandchildren, the Princess Rules stories are truly empowering for young girls.
This book contains three short stories, set in a classic fairytale world – but Princess Florizella is far from your classic fairytale princess. I adored the humour in these stories and I think this will appeal to an adult reading to a child too, especially the fact that Gregory blames the parents for not following the princess rules, with fabulous quotes like this: ‘The queen was particularly neglectful – she completely forgot to die and leave her daughter to a cruel stepmother to make her herd geese or sit in cinders’. Florizella, as a result, is left to grow into a sassy, confident princess who certainly didn’t want to sit around waiting for a prince to rescue her, or grow up to marry a prince. In these tales, Florizella becomes best friends with Prince Bennet as well as battling dragons, rescuing wolves and confronting a giant.
The fantastic storytelling, together with Chris Chatterton’s beautiful illustrations, is likely to make this a very popular read within schools.
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You can order The Princess Rules online or from your local bookshop or library.
Many thanks to the publisher for sending us a review copy of this book and to Review Panel member Angela for reviewing it.
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