The Princess in Black and her besties meet a new mermaid friend and help to rid her kingdom of a troublesome Kraken.
The Princess in Black and her besties meet a new mermaid friend and help to rid her kingdom of a troublesome Kraken.
Sailing a borrowed ship to a seagoing playdate is fun. And the Princess in Black and her two best friends—the Princess in Blankets and the Goat Avenger—all eagerly sail out for some sunny, sea-sprinkled splashing. Of course, they remind themselves to keep an eye out for monsters. You sure don’t want any sea beasties messing up your day.
To their surprise—and the Princess in Black’s great joy—what they actually spot is … a mermaid! She’s the loveliest little mermaid you could imagine. And she’s a princess, too: Princess Posy.
But once the Princess in Black calms down enough to talk (since she really is excited about meeting a real, live mermaid), she learns that their earlier fears about monsters were justified. For it appears that a trench has opened in the sea floor and it reaches all the way down to the land of the Kraken.
Princess Posy fears that the monstery Kraken—known for all sorts of bad-mannered habits—might attack the nearby field of sweet, half fish/half goat creatures called Capricorns. And at that mention, now the Goat Avenger is really excited. Half goat and half fish?! Wow.
But Princess Posy is concerned with much bigger things. If she can’t figure out how to stop the Kraken, she’ll have failed at a princess’ most important job: protecting her kingdom.
So the Princess in Black and her friends jump into hero mode. That’s why they all wear masks, after all; to be helpful heroes. And now a new friend needs some heroic help.
But can they really face the massive Blue Kraken? Can they jump, kick and give battle while underwater? And all while wearing fishbowls on their heads? Will Princess Posy come to realize that she has what it takes to protect those who need protecting? Will the Kraken learn that being rude and selfish (not to mention, eating innocent creatures) is bad?!
Only time will tell, my friend. Only time will tell.
(Well, and this book, too.)
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This tale encourages young readers to have faith in, and believe in, themselves. Sometimes it’s frightening to face a great challenge on your own. But the story tells us that when you have friends willing to help—and who encourage you to use your own natural gifts to face the problem—you might accomplish far more than you think.
The only adult in this tale is a bossy older merwoman who tends to push the young Princess Posy around and make decisions without her. The mermaid princess must learn to stand up to her, too. (She ultimately does so in a kind, but firm, way.)
Other than that, the focus is on the young princessy (and goaty) friends. They talk about the wisdom of Princess Posy’s list of “Nice Tips.” They are: One, talk to lonely creatures; two, don’t make fun of anyone; and three, protect your friends from things that might eat them.
The Princess in Blankets offers another important tip: speak up. For sometimes when you’re shy or uncertain, it’s easy to stay quiet when important things need to be said.
The Blue Kraken is large, bulbous and threatening, in a cartoony way. He takes things belonging to others and screams “Mine!” at them. He also grabs some sea creatures in threatening ways. (But he’s soon sternly corrected and sent home.)
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Do you have good friends who encourage you to do the right thing? Is that helpful when you face difficult situations? Why is that? What have your best friends helped you learn about yourself? If you don’t have those kinds of friends, how can you find them?
Have you ever come across rude or selfish kids your age? How do you deal with them? How should you?
In this case, the kid heroes dealt with the bully Kraken on their own. Do you think it would be helpful to bring in an adult if you face difficult situations in the real world? Have you thought about how you might do that?
Do you have someone you think you could talk to about these sorts of things?
Get free discussion questions for books at focusonthefamily.com/magazine/thriving-family-book-discussion-questions.
The Princess in Black and the Mermaid Princess is a simple and sweet book about friendship and facing problems when you feel unsure. It would make for a nice early reader book that kids could tackle and think about on their own or read through with an adult.
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Review by Bob Hoose
