Like every superhero, every book has an origin story...

She wears glass slippers.
She sleeps in a tower.
She sings to birds.
She is the perfect princess.
And for a monster-fighting heroine, that is the perfect disguise.
Princess Magnolia is...

The Princess in Black

When she was four years old, my daughter Maggie (aka Magnolia) was examining her favorite article of clothing: a multicolored, butterfly-covered skort, the kind of thing that makes her feel pretty and princessy while still allowing her tumble about with ease.

She pointed to each of the butterfly colors.

“Pink is a girl color,” she said. “And purple, and yellow. But not black.”

“Girls can wear black,” I said. "I wear black all the time."

She looked at me as if to say, you're not a girl, you're a mama.

“Well, what about Batgirl?” I said, sure I'd won the argument.

Maggie said, “Mama, princesses don’t wear black.”

It was like being struck by lightning.

All day I couldn't stop thinking about a princess who did wear black. I took inspiration from The Scarlet Pimpernel, Zorro, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She'd be a seemingly typical princess with a secret. She'd secretly be a superhero, working hard to keep her kingdom free of monsters. And like Superman needs Clark Kent, the Princess in Black would maintain a secret identity. To all the world, she is Princess Magnolia. But when trouble calls, she sheds her fluffy dresses and glass slippers, dons a black mask, leaps onto her valiant pony, and rides off to save the day!

I pulled my husband Dean into writing it with me, because he's awesome. And funny. And clever. And I like working with him. And there would be monsters, so he'd have insight to offer, being of their own kind. LeUyen Pham agreed to lend her bedazzling illustration sorcery to the project, Candlewick published it with aplomb, and the result is something I love dearly. Here are things that are important to me about this book.

1. The kind of book you can read to a four-year-old, because even though it's a longer chapter book (15 chapters, 80+ pages, over 2000 words), there are full-color illustrations every page that will keep their interest.

2. The kind of book a 6-7 year old might be able to read to you, and feel so proud doing it! Because the font is larger, a young reader will be capable of reading a big, thick book in one sitting and feel a surge of self-confidence afterward.

3. The kind of a book a mom like me can read to all my kids at the same time--10yo, 7yo, and 4yo--because the slightly more complicated plot interests older readers and high-concept story and ubiquitous illustrations keep the younger readers interested.

4. A book unashamedly about a girl (a princess even!) that any boy can enjoy too. She's a ninja! She fights monsters! There's an awesome goat boy! It's very important to me that from a young age, boys realize they can read and enjoy books about girls. If they start young, they're more likely to keep reading about girls and more likely to develop empathy for that other gender.

5. This is a girl who enjoys wearing the fluffy pink dresses and glass slippers and having tea parties. And this is also a girl who enjoys wearing black combat boots and galloping on horses and waging battle against huge monsters. She's not an either/or, just like my daughters. Girls are more complicated than some characters make us out to be.

6. This is not a traditional early reader. While the sentences are short and manageable and most words are short and manageable, and there's lots of repitition to aid in learning new things, there are also lots of wonderful, fun, big and crunchy words for new readers to sharpen their teeth on, like: "minced," "pranced," and "swished." Like "handkerchiefs," "snuffling," and "hog-tying." Why, there's even "hornswaggle."

7. As a parent, it's hard for me to find those transitional books that can carry a my kids from picture books and early readers to chapter books. This is longer and more complex than Fly Guy, Go, Dog, Go!, etc., but shorter and simpler than Junie B. Jones, Magic Treehouse, etc. I think the best comparison is Kate DiCamillo's Mercy Watson books.

8. There's a unicorn named Frimplepants. (at least, he seems to be a unicorn...but is he reallly?)

9. The Princess in Black's signature battle move is "Twinkle Twinkle Little SMASH!"

10. This is the first of a series. I've seen LeUyen's sketches for book 2, and you are going to die when you meet Princess Sneezewort. Those who have read all of them often love book 3 the most (so funny, Dean worked some magic). And book 4 is going to make fans of book 1 very, very happy. I hope for years to come, Princess Magnolia/the Princess in Black and her pals will be your pals too.

Comments

[Cheryl]

I am SO excited to read this one with my daughters (ages 4 and 8). We just got it and will be starting it as soon as we are done with Pollyanna.
My 4 year old is so obsessed with boy and girl colors lately.
It's strange because she loves Ninja turtles more than princesses and so I didn't expect her to worry about what is "expected" or "normal" for boys/girls. But she always says "Mom, pink is more a girl color and green is more boyish, right mom?"
I always tell her that a color is just a color, not boy or girlish. But I think this will be such a good story to share with her.

[Marianne]

Can't wait to read this to my own swashbuckling princess!

[Eliza]

Frimplepants? Sneezewort? Can't wait to meet them! I hate it when people diss princesses. Historical princesses are awesome ladies of war and diplomacy. Most of the time, they wore frilly dresses.

[Chris Johnson]

I am so excited for this book! My twin daughters are 11 and really struggle with reading. I have been looking for something like this to catch their interest. They already love Calamity Jack and Rapunzel's Revenge, but it's like this book was written just for them, because they too love princesses and adventures. And books worth lots of great illustrations. It makes me giggle with anticipation! Thank you for writing this!

[Sondy]

Wow! So awesome! And you are right about needing good books for that reading level. Love love love! (And I am going to have to order my own copy, because the library is taking too long.)

[Diana T]

I got this from the library and read it to my two-year-old. He sat on my lap and listened the whole time and has subsequently picked it up and looked through it in his own. Shannon Hale for the win!

[Ruthie]

Thank you for this description. This sounds like just the thing for my first-grade daughter, who's reading pretty well on her own, and my 4-year-old, whose favorite read-alouds are Mercy Watson.

In fact, we have invitations to three 7-year-old birthday parties in the next two weeks, and we always give books for birthdays. I'm going to go order 4 copies (one for us) right now!

[Katie]

Wow, I'm so glad you described this book like you did! I'm sure my 4-year-old will love having this book read to her. Especially because her self-proclaimed favorite color is black. :)

[rinna-girl]

This sounds so cool! I love Buffy and I think her "message" (that girls can be girly and fight monsters and more) is great. I'm so happy that you're putting wonderful things like this out there.
I don't even have kids but I will be buying this for sure :)

[Holly]

I giggled and laughed out loud while reading this post and just knew I had to send this to a favorite youngster for an upcoming birthday. I even called her mom and read the blog post to her, and she giggled and laughed too, and agreed that it was a good choice for her youngest. I ordered it right then and there (and then put it on MY wish list in hopes that someone will send ME one.)

Today at lunch I told a friend about it and sent her a link to this post as well as link to the book on Amazon. I probably should save that email because I'm guessing I will need to send it to others.

:-)

[Bethnay Scheerer]

My sister just finished reading The Princess in Black to our five year old sister and she loved it. "I really like the pictures. Will there be another one soon?" ~My five year old sister. I can't wait to read it myself

[Kendyl]

I loved Princess in Black! I got it in the mail today and read the whole book to my sister. She wasn't sure at first (she adheres to the "black isn't a girl color" belief) so I told her I was just going to read it to our mom...by chapter three she was hooked. She's asked me to read it again tomorrow and I'm hoping I can use it as a stepping stone to other books that are more diverse than her stories from school. And not only that, I and my mom enjoyed the story too! Thanks so much!

[Erin]

this book sounds perfect for my 7 year old son to read out loud with me. plus, i get the pleasure of introducing my boys to one of my favorite authors! what a perfect combo! can't wait!

[Tiffany L.]

I am so excited for this book. As a mother of four boys (and only boys!) I feel it is my duty to read them ALL the good books of the world, and that includes Ramona the Pest, Little House on the Prairie, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Ella Enchanted, etc. They might not ever pick these books up on their own, but they love them when exposed to them. And my 12-year-old just devoured (and redevoured, about five times) "Dangerous." Thanks for writing such fantastic literature for boys and girls.

[Audry T.]

What a great source of inspiration! And what a wonderful result. I think if that happened to me, I'd reply, "They certainly do!" and then I'd show her Grace Kelly in a black dress.