ianreadstokids reviewed The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale
"No one would suspect a goat."
5 stars
I found the period around 4 years old to be a challenging time for reading to the kid. His attention span and comprehension were getting good enough that short picture books weren't entirely cutting it any more. But he wasn't quite ready for full novel-style chapter books. He couldn't read to himself, of course, and with one notable exception, most of the "early reader" style books stink to read aloud to a kid. They're dumbed down and shallow and boring to both the reader and the kid. I felt like a castaway dying of thirst on the ocean, surrounded everywhere I looked by water yet with nothing to drink.
This desperation combined with the sheer surprise of discovering the Princess in Black series made it feel like a revelation. I had low expectations going in--the concept of "wow people can subvert expectations" had me rolling my eyes and …
I found the period around 4 years old to be a challenging time for reading to the kid. His attention span and comprehension were getting good enough that short picture books weren't entirely cutting it any more. But he wasn't quite ready for full novel-style chapter books. He couldn't read to himself, of course, and with one notable exception, most of the "early reader" style books stink to read aloud to a kid. They're dumbed down and shallow and boring to both the reader and the kid. I felt like a castaway dying of thirst on the ocean, surrounded everywhere I looked by water yet with nothing to drink.
This desperation combined with the sheer surprise of discovering the Princess in Black series made it feel like a revelation. I had low expectations going in--the concept of "wow people can subvert expectations" had me rolling my eyes and prepared for a saccharine plodding sermon of a book. Was I ever wrong!
The writing here is masterful. It's carefully constructed of short sentences and simple words that make it easy for kids to follow along, but doesn't sacrifice all the joy of the written word in the process. The prose flows cleanly, it's funny and evocative, it has a distinct authorial voice.
And the themes! The narrative construction! There is some beautiful stuff packed in here behind the deceptively simple packaging. The story structure itself is a complex multi-viewpoint narrative, the sort of thing you'd expect from an adult novel. The story arc tackles some big ideas like the stress of having to hide part of yourself from the people around you, and the feeling of yearning to be more than what society tells you to be. It's a small miracle to have all of this presented in a format a 4 year old can easily follow.
The illustrations are great too. They complement the story nicely and were a big help for keeping my kid engaged and following along. They have a lot of character too, with some great visual humor in the monsters and the goats.
One demerit awarded for naming the horse "Blacky", which is just a weird choice, especially when there are so many other fine options available. Still, that's not nearly enough to dethrone this book in my power rankings.
KID VERDICT (4y-6y): Very popular with the kid, thank goodness. I genuinely believe this series helped him make the jump to full chapter books.