Princess Pulverizer #1: Grilled Cheese and Dragons
Nancy Krulik, illustrated by Ben Balistreri
9780515158328, Penguin, hardcover, $15.99 (paperback also available), Pub. Date: January 16, 2018
Publisher Description: Princess Serena (or as she prefers, Princess Pulverizer) doesn’t want to be a princess–she wants to be knight! But her father, King Alexander of Empiria, thinks she still has a lot to learn when it comes to exhibiting valiant behavior. So he presents a challenge: the princess must first go on a Quest of Kindness and perform good deeds to prove that she truly deserves to go to knight school. With help from a friendly dragon named Dribble and a perpetually terrified knight-in-training named Lucas, can she complete her quest and discover what it really takes to be a hero?
WildlyRead Shelftalker: Meet Princess Serena, aka Princess Pulverizer! She must complete 8 good deeds on a Quest of Kindness to become a Knight. Deed #1: Rescue jewels, a scared knight, and a gassy, cheese-eating dragon from a sleepy ogre. Silly, funny, and empowering. Ages 4+
WildlyRead Thoughts: For fans of the Princess in Black series that have graduated to the next reading level. Definitely empowering from the POV that it features a strong female character who wants to be a knight who rescues people, not a frilly princess, but at the same time I found it predictable and formulaic. This may not be a problem for a young child, but I didn’t think the tale was particularly inspired. I’m hoping the series gets better as it goes on. Also features a scaredy-cat former knight-in-training (male) and a dragon-turned-grilled cheese master. There should be at least 7 more books in this series.
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