A fun childlike take on Sleeping Beauty with a twist. The princess is a hamster and thus not your conventional princess... Cute illustrations and a sassy sense of humor.
Ages 7 ( )

Fabulously spunky princess in a stereotype-smashing retelling of the Sleeping Beauty tale. ( )

Where oh where can we go wrong with subverting the status quo, how things work, and gender roles? Certainly not here! Harriet leaps in with defining what a princess does and doesn't do as what she does or doesn't do, and from there it's great. She grabs life by the coattails and rides it to being a champion.

What's better is Harriet needs no prince, or does she.

Plenty of subvertions here, and, for people who are looking for a touch of that special thing most books don't have, there's some things here that would appeal to the younger and more unique audiences. This book stood out to me for having a prince kissing anyone, and it was great to read! ( )

Well, I love a strong female hamster, knuckling her way through princess challenges. I adore that she trades on her storybook "curse" and recognizes it for invincibility. I love that this is not a book that ends in marriage, and I desperately, desperately want a riding quail.

deeeeeelightful. ( )

Subverting of fairy tale tropes, strong female character, cheerful story that doesn't gloss over negatives of lives - I loved it. This is a great story for the mid-to-late primary reader (or the adventurous early primary read) as well as being plenty of fun for older readers. I picked this up as something light hearted to cheer me up, and it did exactly that.

Amongst other details, I loved that the author allowed the 12 year old to behave as if they were 12. Yes, Harriet goes off on a quest, and she needs a prince for that, but she isn't interested in romance or any of the end-game options of traditional quest narratives, she just wants to learn about her world and her self.

Recommended for anyone who loves fairy tales, but despairs of the worlds that they are usually set in, this is a feminist and friendly update that reflects the good in our society. ( )