Reading Beauty

August 1, 2019
From the creators of Interstellar Cinderella (2015) comes another fairy-tale remake that features a smart young woman who can and does rescue herself from peril. Princess Lex, a brown-skinned girl with puffy blue hair, is a book lover, like most inhabitants of her planetoid. She reads all day and night. But on her 15th birthday, she wakes to find all her books gone. When she asks her parents what is happening, they tell her about a fairy who thought she hadn't been invited to Lex's birth celebration and cursed her with a sleep-inducing paper cut to occur at the age of 15. Of course Lex can't accept life without books. She decides to find the fairy and "make her break the curse." Lex uses knowledge she gained from reading to find and outsmart the fairy. Some fun plot surprises await on Lex's quest before the ending, where "all read happily ever after." The rhyming text is fun to read at a fast-moving pace. Underwood attends to every detail of the original story with humor and creates characters readers will love. The busy illustrations use color, pattern, and costume to create an elaborate Afro-futuristic setting that enhances the story. A nifty addition to the shelves of feminist fractured fairy tales. (Picture book. 5-9)

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September 1, 2019

PreS-Gr 2-Once upon a planetoid, Lex, a princess, loved to read until the day her books disappear. She learns that a fairy cursed her when she was born, and when she turns 15, she will get a paper cut that will put her in a deadly sleep. To save her books, Lex and her dog, Prince, go on an adventure to find the fairy who cursed her. The reason the fairy was angry soon comes to light, and Lex helps her fix her problem. This modern retake on "Sleeping Beauty" is an interstellar fairy tale that is vibrantly illustrated and fun to read-aloud. The rhyming text keeps the story lighthearted and lively. Lex is a brown-skinned protagonist and she and her Prince seem to jump off the page. The story shares a positive message about reading, helping others, and redemption. VERDICT A great one-on-one read for caregivers, and perfect for group sharing in a library or classroom setting.-Maeve Dodds, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, NC

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2019
Bookworm Princess Lex--who has brown skin and blue hair--has her books taken away on her fifteenth birthday. A fairy, insulted at not being invited to the celebration when Lex was born, cursed her to get a paper cut at fifteen, and...you know the rest. But like the author-illustrator pair's Interstellar Cinderella, this Sleeping Beauty takes an active role in her tale. The rhyming text cleverly involves reading at every turn. Mixed-media illustrations incorporate eye-pleasing sci-fi details.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2019
"Once upon a planetoid," Princess Lex-who has brown skin, blue hair, and a palace staffed with bots-is thwarted in her love of reading when her books are taken away on her fifteenth birthday. Her parents reveal that a fairy, insulted not to have been invited to the celebration when Lex was born, cursed her to get a paper cut at age fifteen, and...you know the rest. But (like the heroine of the author-illustrator pair's Interstellar Cinderella, rev. 7/15) this Sleeping Beauty takes an active role in her tale. She plans to find the fairy and "make her break the curse," and when the fairy tries to tempt her with a useful-looking book, Lex's response is just as tricky. The rhyming text cleverly (if occasionally clunkily) spins the story to involve reading at every turn. Though the ultimate solution doesn't involve a prince, it does include a kiss from a dog named Prince, and an offer from Lex to teach the fairy to read so she doesn't-aha!-miss future invitations. Hunt's mixed-media illustrations, using lots of pinks, purples, yellows, and greens, incorporate eye-pleasing sci-fi details (e.g., a Royal Book Removal robot). Suspend your disbelief in a few places (who says an illiterate fairy can't make an aptly titled book appear?) and cheer on this bold bookworm. Don't miss the highlights from her library on the endpapers. Shoshana Flax

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)