The Apple-pip Princess by Jane Ray

from goodreads

3.5 stars

I am coming to realize, now that my kids are getting older, that what they think is cool and what I think is cool is, quite often, completely different. It's shocking, I know. I was cool and hip back in the day. But it seems, each year they get older I seem to lose a bit more of my coolness factor. I still feel cool, sometimes. I think I have a lot of hipness still happening (although that last sentence has probably proved otherwise). Perhaps that's the dilemma. Coolness changes with each generation. Once we have discovered for ourselves what is cool it is hard to change from that model. It is also hard when wearing your stretchy mommy uniform black yoga pants and blahzay t-shirt to really be feeling the cool vibe. Oh well, times and seasons. Hopefully by the time my oldest is a teenager I will be back on the cool bandwagon. Teenagers think their parents are cool, right?

Synopsis

An aging king has decided it is time to figure out which of his three daughters will sit on the throne after he is gone. He says that they have a week to do something that will make their mark on the kingdom and make their father proud. He says at the end of the seventh day he will make his decision.

My Thoughts

This is one of those books where I, as the adult, loved it, my daughter, as the child, could have taken it or left it. I got it from the library solely on the title. We sometimes call our youngest Pips, so when I say pip in the title I knew I had to check it out.

I love the fairy tale quality of this book. It has everything a fairy tale ought to. A widowed king, a kingdom that doesn't bloom now that the queen is gone, a vain sister, a proud sister, and the humble sister. The moral that kindness and trying to something to help everybody is better than doing something for your own glory. A hint of magic. It was great.

I think where it lost my daughter was with the wordiness. She is four almost five, and it just didn't hold her interest as much. She was ready for me to turn the page before the page had run out of words. It could have also been where we were reading the book. We were at the pool waiting for the older sister's swimming lessons to be over and it was loud and the baby kept on trying to eat the book and so it was hard to hear and see.

Both my daughter and I agreed that the pictures were fantastic. My daughter loved seeing the transition of the kingdom and would comment on the pictures. You know they are good when a child actually comments about them. I also loved the way the illustrations were done. The textures and collage-like quality added to the feeling of the story and were beautiful.

This is definitely one of the kids books that is more artsy. (I am not sure if that is the right term, but I hope you know the type of book I mean). I think kids six and up would like it more than younger ones. But also, if you are going to read it, try to do it in a non-distracting setting. Even if your kids don't like it,  read it for yourself. It is lovely.