  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 11/15/2016 Who wouldn’t want to be a princess? Romy certainly does. She’s having a grumpy day and tells her mother that the only thing that would make her happy is to be in Princessland. So when Lady Cat, sunning on the porch, stretches and meanders off, Romy follows, describing what life is like in her ideal world (“All the girls are princesses. . . . There are good things to eat whenever you want them”). When Lady Cat climbs a tree, Romy clambers after, envisioning Princessland’s tall, towered castle, complete with princesses in beautiful dresses and flower crowns, dancing at balls. Best of all, she tells Lady Cat, each princess has a horse or a flying lion for battling dragons. As the sun sinks in the sky, the two retrace their steps for dinner, content to be in their own happy “castle,” surrounded by the special magic of home. Full-color spreads done in soft pastels show intricate details of diverse, smiling princesses with pets, flowers, jewels, and sweets. A feast of imagination. - Copyright 2016 Booklist. School Library Journal - 01/01/2017 K-Gr 2—Romy longs more than anything to visit a fantasy world she calls Princessland. She sits around the house moping, unwilling to do much of anything. It isn't until Lady Cat awakens and leads Romy out of the house that the girl even attempts to change her bad mood. The pet gently encourages Romy to share just what it is about Princessland that she likes so much, implying that she can take Romy to this magical place. As Romy explains, the cat leads her to a bakery (as the girl talks about the food in Princessland), up a tree (when Romy talks about the great view from Princessland's castle), and through the local market (where Romy describes dancing in a ballroom). Along the way, Romy slowly comes to realize that sometimes the greatest journeys occur in one's own imagination. Tanaka's soft, dreamlike illustrations make a great complement to Jenkins's text. The illustrations show each of the places that the cat takes Romy as well as the imaginary places that Romy takes the cat. Lady Cat behaves like a feline yet still manages to pull Romy out of her bad mood. VERDICT A delightful ode to imaginative play that young dreamers are bound to enjoy.—Heidi Grange, Summit Elementary School, Smithfield, UT - Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
 |