Summary: Harriet Hamsterbone is cursed by the evil fairy Ratshade. On her 12th birthday she will prick her finger on a hamster wheel sending her into a deep sleep that can only be broken by the kiss of a prince. Her parents prepare the castle and already have a prince on hand, but Harriet has a plan of her own. The only way the curse can be fulfilled is if Harriet remains alive so she discovers that the curse has made her invincible until her 12th birthday. She decides to embark on a journey fighting ogres. Will she be able to evade the evil curse? Read to find out!
Impression: Don't be fooled by the pink, purple, and glitter on the cover. This book will appeal to all readers. Fairy tale lovers, adventure seekers, graphic novel gurus, this book has a place for everyone. It is a fun quick read and also on the 2016-2017 Texas Bluebonnet Nominee list. Ages 8+
Reviews:
Grades 3-6. Princesses don’t cliff-dive. They don’t joust, they don’t slay monsters, and they don’t rescue anyone. But Princess Harriet Hamsterbone (yes, she’s a hamster) is a princess, and, “If I do it,” she says, “it’s got to be something princesses do! Who makes these rules?!” Not content to wait around to prick herself on a hamster wheel on her twelfth birthday—she was cursed at birth, Sleeping Beauty style—Harriet makes the curse work for her. Curses, she reasons, are specific, and this one will keep her alive until she’s 12, making her all but invincible for the time being. And so off she goes, riding her faithful quail and ignoring her parents’ dry commentary, saving princesses from dragons (and dragons from princesses), and maybe finding the skills to save herself in the process. And, oh yeah, she’ll do anything to avoid having to kiss some stuck-up prince. The spunky, slightly bonkers Harriet is a delightful heroine who turns this fairy tale on its head, and the book is peppered with clever two-color cartoon illustrations that will attract even the more reluctant readers. It’s a joy to read, and we can only hope that Harriet—long may she reign—will return in later installments.
Hamster Princess. Rev of Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible. Booklist. July 2015. Web. 30 May 2015.
This new series from Dragonbreath's Vernon puts a wild spin on "Sleeping Beauty." A droll opening introduces Harriet Hamsterbone ("who, as her name indicated, was a hamster"), an adventurous princess chafing against deportment, the requirements of her role, and other limitations imposed by her parents. When they reveal the source of their overprotectiveness (the "Sleeping Beauty" curse, with a hamster wheel on her 12th birthday substituting for the spinning wheel), Harriet takes a seemingly counterintuitive stance: since the curse requires her to be alive on her fateful birthday, until then she must be invincible. She gallivants around as an unstoppable hero before returning home for her birthday--to discover that her mother has prepared for the curse by picking a wretched, male-chauvinist prince to kiss and wake her once the curse sets in. Before it can, the evil fairy shows up to gloat, and a hilarious sequence leads to the backfiring of the curse, leaving Harriet the castle's only hamster still awake. Now she must find a prince willing to kiss every last sleeping creature in the castle. Vernon deploys the same winning elements found in her Dragonbreath books, a mix of boldly drawn, two-tone cartoons, occasional speech bubbles, and a boisterously humorous text. Harriet is her own hamster, but she takes her place proudly alongside both Danny Dragonbreath and Babymouse. Creatively fresh and feminist, with laughs on every single page. (Graphic/fantasy hybrid. 8-12)
Hamster Princess. Rev. of Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible. Kirkus Reviews. 1 May 2015. Web. 30 May 2016.
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