Yes! I just love the main theme of this series, that one can embrace more facets of oneself. Princess Magnolia loves decorating, and also The P. in Black can deal with monsters. Prince Valerian is a hero, and also The P. in Pink loves decorating. A new friend to the pantheon!

What flower are you? What color is your hero?
commentadd book/autho ( )

Princess Magnolia has been tasked with preparing for a ball as part of the Flower Festival where many other princesses will be in attendance. She thinks she is more than prepared until an angry emu crashes the party and destroys her decorations. Her monster-fighting alter-ego "The Princess in Black" isn't really much help here -- but can a mysterious masked stranger calling himself "The Prince in Pink" be of assistance?

This was a fun addition to this action-packed series. Each short chapter ends on a little bit of a cliffhanger, promoting kids to want to keep reading more. The text is in a large font and uses relatively simple sentence structures to keep it accessible for younger readers. Some of the vocabulary such as "menacing" and "holster" will be a little more challenging, but hopefully in a way that encourages learning rather than just frustrates. I think there is enough other, simpler vocabulary along the way that the former should be the case.

With this series, I always love that a bunch of princesses can save the day with their wits and their brawn, without needing a fellow to step in. However, in this case, we do have a male character who is a key helper -- but more for his ability to decorate with flair than his capacity to fight (although we see he is capable of this as well). It's a nice gender twist and a step towards all kids seeing themselves represented in literature. No matter how silly the story might be (flightless birds upset that they weren't invited to dance!), there can always be deeper messages tucked within for the readers to uncover.

Beyond the Prince in Pink, there's plenty more in the illustrations of pink objects and beautiful costumes with flourishes to appeal to those readers who like those aspects of more traditional princess stories. I really enjoyed the flower theme, especially the little puns seen prior to the ball at the fair with its rides like "bumper bees" and "rosemary-go-round." ( )

Gr 2–4—Princess Magnolia/The Princess in Black is back, and this time she's aided by the mysterious Prince in
Pink/Prince Valerian in saving their party from a rampant giant emu. As ever, the series' signature themes of identity,
friendship, and teamwork ring true. Candy-colored art makes this irresistible to burgeoning readers.

Princess Magnolia is in charge of decorations for the Flower Festival Ball, but an angry emu stomps on her disco ball. Fortunately, the Prince in Pink is there to save the day, helping Princess Magnolia wage decoration for the ball. When the angry emu returns with two ostriches - the Flightless Bird Herd - it turns out they just wanted to be invited to dance.

Everyone's secret identities (Magnolia/Princess in Black, Duff/Goat Avenger, Prince Valerian/Prince in Pink) are nearly out in the open in a wink-wink, nudge-nudge way, showing that everyone's got (at least) two sides, and no one has to conform to what's expected, especially where gender roles are concerned. Funny and fun!

Quotes

Princess Sneezewort was neck-deep in fennel cakes. (8)

She thought she had been prepared for everything. But she had not been prepared for a grumpy emu. (27)

This was the kind of challenge that the Prince in Pink liked. (43)

It wasn't fair. She wanted to party. She yearned to dance. But nobody thought about Emu. Nobody invited her to balls. (49) ( )