As I was looking through choices for a book to review, Bea joined me and noticed a princess story. Since we are firmly in the midst of our princess phase, I was intrigued. We also needed to round out our Easter book collection – we have one about the Bible story and one about an Easter bunny factory. We have friends who enjoy the Princess Parables series, so I thought we’d try it out.
A Royal Easter Story by Jeanne Young and Jacqueline Johnson was a bit tough to review. If it were up to Bea, she’d give it at least 4 stars. It’s become our bedtime reading and she enjoys the plot and pictures.
Since I’m the one writing the review, I give it 2 stars. It’s a scattered story, ranging from an Easter Jubilee to a lost child (overnight in the woods seems a bit extreme) to a lesson about helping others rather than finishing a race. If any one of those plot lines had been chosen, the book would have been much better.
However, it felt scattered and jumbled. I never really knew what the actual lesson was supposed to be. And, most importantly, it was not about Easter. It happened to take place in the spring, around Easter. And they went to an Easter celebration. But the story itself was about helping others and being a good citizen. The Easter part was thrown in at the end and incongruous to the overall story.
If it had been titled something different or had a more coherent theme, I probably would have rated this book differently. As it is, though, I’m looking forward to the day when Bea loses interest and we can donate it to the library.
I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.
Annie Rim 