Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Princess Pistachio
Fiction Series
For ages 5 to 7
Pajama Press, 2015 ISBN: 978-1927485699
It is Pistachio’s birthday and when she opens a present she finds that it contains a crown, a lovely glittery crown fit for a princess. The card that came with the crown reads “Happy birthday, my little princess.” There is no name on the card and Pistachio’s mind jumps to a wonderful possibility. Could this present be from her real parents? Pistachio has always been sure that her real parents are royalty and that she is therefore a princess. Surely this gift means that they are finally contacting her and that soon enough they will come to collect her and take her back to their “magnificent kingdom.”
Sure that she is right about her status in life, Pistachio insists that she be called Princess Pistachio from now on. Her parents are agreeable, but they do not seem to appreciate that Pistachio deserves a certain amount of respect and deference. For example she is sure that princesses don’t have to eat spinach, and yet her father insists that she better eat her spinach or she won’t get any dessert. With her head held high Pistachio leaves the room. She will do without dessert.
On Monday Pistachio tells her mother that “Princesses never get out of bed until noon,” but she is still forced to get up. As she hurries to school, the little girl, clad in her princess gown and golden crown, thinks about how impressed her friends are going to be when they see her. Alas for Princess Pistachio. Her friends are not at all impressed. Instead they think that Pistachio is being ridiculous and proceed to make fun of her. In fact they are so unkind that they make Pistachio upset and she vows that she will make them regret that they teased her. She will show them that she is a “real princess.”
Young readers are going to love this amusing chapter book, which introduces us to a girl who is sure that she is a princess who is being raised by the wrong family. It is amusing to see how Pistachio deals with her naysayers, and how she learns that there are actually more important things in life than being a princess.
