  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 05/01/2015 Gr 3–5—From the creator of the "Dragonbreath" series (Dial) comes a new fairy tale heroine in the form of a hamster. Princess Harriet Hamsterbone is not like ordinary princesses who are known for trailing around the palace looking ethereal and sighing a lot. She is, however, brave and intelligent and excels in other hamster princess skills, like checkers and fractions. Harriet is also invincible, due in part to a curse put upon her at birth by the evil wicked fairy god mouse, Ratshade. The curse dooms Princess Harriet to fall into a Sleeping Beauty-like slumber at the age of 12 but leaves her unable to die until then. Rather than worry about the inevitable, Princess Harriet lives life without fear—cliff-diving and Ogre-cat fighting, all with her trusty quail friend Mumfrey at her side. When the curse backfires, leaving all in the Kingdom in a deep slumber except Harriet and Mumfrey, it is up to the fierce little hamster to find a willing prince able to help her break the curse and save the kingdom. The artwork is large and in graphic novel-style, with sparse colors, similar to the "Dragonbreath" illustrations. Move over, Babymouse, there's a new rodent in town! VERDICT Vernon has created a spunky heroine readers will cheer for and who will leave them eagerly searching for the happily ever after in the next installment.—Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 07/01/2015 *Starred Review* Princesses don’t cliff-dive. They don’t joust, they don’t slay monsters, and they don’t rescue anyone. But Princess Harriet Hamsterbone (yes, she’s a hamster) is a princess, and, “If I do it,” she says, “it’s got to be something princesses do! Who makes these rules?!” Not content to wait around to prick herself on a hamster wheel on her twelfth birthday—she was cursed at birth, Sleeping Beauty style—Harriet makes the curse work for her. Curses, she reasons, are specific, and this one will keep her alive until she’s 12, making her all but invincible for the time being. And so off she goes, riding her faithful quail and ignoring her parents’ dry commentary, saving princesses from dragons (and dragons from princesses), and maybe finding the skills to save herself in the process. And, oh yeah, she’ll do anything to avoid having to kiss some stuck-up prince. The spunky, slightly bonkers Harriet is a delightful heroine who turns this fairy tale on its head, and the book is peppered with clever two-color cartoon illustrations that will attract even the more reluctant readers. It’s a joy to read, and we can only hope that Harriet—long may she reign—will return in later installments. - Copyright 2015 Booklist. Loading...
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