The Princess Magnolia—also known by some as the secret hero, The Princess in Black—is given a cat. But this little furball is more apt to shred than purr. What should a princess do?
The Princess Magnolia—also known by some as the secret hero, The Princess in Black—is given a cat. But this little furball is more apt to shred than purr. What should a princess do?
Duchess Wigtower has a cat. It’s a kitten, really. But this little fluffy furball is more of a terror than anything else. It scrapes up the duchess’ paintings; it rips her overstuffed sofa; it gets tangled in her tower-high tresses.
And the duchess can’t stand it anymore!
So Duchess Wigtower decides to get rid of the beast by dropping it off in front of Princess Magnolia’s castle, just across the way. Magnolia, you see, is one of those perfectly content and happy people—surrounded by flitting butterflies and tweeting birds—who is kind to everyone and helpful to all.
And the duchess can’t stand her either.
When Princess Magnolia finds the fluffy little animal in a basket on her front step, she is beside herself with joy. She’s always wanted a sweet kitty! So she immediately tries to come up with a name for her new pet.
Should it be Plumpkins? Or what about Picklewink, she wonders. Those are suitably cute names for a perfectly adorable pet. But the kitten is having none of it. Fitz-kittikins? Kitter-Punk? However, each time Magnolia comes up with a name, the kitten squeaks or sneezes or growls to let her know that none of them are acceptable.
In fact, everything that Magnolia seems to do to feed and care for this little white kitten is quickly rejected as well.
Then Magnolia gets a call on her super-special ring. She must hurry off to take care of a monster problem. And that means changing out of her pink taffeta and pearls and into her black boots, cape and mask to become … The Princess in Black! She apologizes to (Wisker-Disker-Doo? … Nope!) the kitty for having to rush off.
When Magnolia gets back home and changes to her pink-adorned princessy self once more, however, she finds that the snarling cat has raked the wallpaper with its sharp little claws. The wall is a mess.
What can she do? Nothing seems to work—no name, no special treatment. In fact, the grouchy monster she just faced off with was much the same. It was just as obstinate and angry as (Meow-Loaf? … Nope!) the cat.
Princess Magnolia will have to think hard on this. What do kittens and monsters have in common? What do they both need? How can you help them?
This is a special challenge that requires the efforts of a special hero. And it may even be the Princess in Black’s biggest challenge yet!
None.
The book’s setting is a fantasy world that’s populated by princes and princesses, as well as unicorns and monsters that crawl up from an underground Monster Land.
Besides Magnolia/Princess in Black and her good friend The Goat Avenger, the only other person in the story is Duchess Wigtower. This snooty royal wants to see Princess Magnolia suffer a bit. And that’s apparently because Magnolia always seems so happy and giving to others, while Wigtower is none of those things.
Princess Magnolia, on the other hand, is consistently thoughtful and kind. And because of her thoughtfulness, she’s able to see that pets, monsters and kids all have one or two things in common. And that leads her to a good solution for her new kitten friend.
Magnolia’s new kitten is definitely more destructive than any pet owner would want. But through it’s shredding and tearing ways, young readers can learn that pets need attention, care and understanding. Pet ownership isn’t an easy job.
The Princess in Black and The Goat Avenger also jump into a thumping battle with a huge monster. (But that helps Magnolia figure out what she must do with her kitten.)
There’s no sexual content here.
But we do see Magnolia embracing two very different expressions of her identity. She’s very happy being a pink and frilly princess. But she also loves leaping into action as a black-clad heroine who doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty.
Have you ever read Romans 12:20? What do you think it means when it says that doing something nice for an enemy “heaps coals on their head”?
Do you think that’s sort of what’s happening with Duchess Wigtower? In this case, Magnolia didn’t even know that someone was trying to be mean to her, she was just being nice to an abandoned animal.
Magnolia wasn’t trying to look nice for someone else, she was simply being kind and nice. Is there a difference between those two choices? What do you think that says about the choices we should make every day and all the time?
Do you have a pet? And do you feed it regularly and treat it nicely? Do you give it the kind of play time and love that will make it happy?
What was your favorite part of this book?
This latest Princess in Black book helps kids think about what it takes to care for a pet. It suggests that pet’s need love, attention and time … just like kids do. It also points out that doing something mean-spirited to others generally only hurts you.
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Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not necessarily their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
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