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Summary
Summary
The book that launched the #1 New York Times bestselling series about believing in yourself and finding your own inner sparkle -- from the mother-daughter team of musical icon Julie Andrews and author Emma Walton Hamilton !
While her friends and family may not believe in fairies, Geraldine knows, deep down, that she is a VERY fairy princess. From morning to night, Gerry does everything that fairy princesses do: she dresses in her royal attire, practices her flying skills, and she is always on the lookout for problems to solve. But it isn't all twirls and tiaras - as every fairy princess knows, dirty fingernails and scabby knees are just the price you pay for a perfect day!
This new picture book addition to the Julie Andrews Collection features the joyful illustrations of Christine Davenier, and is sure to inspire that sparkly feeling within the hearts of readers young and old.
Author Notes
Julie Andrews was born in Walton-on-Thames, England, on October 1, 1935. She is a film and stage actress. She came to the United States at the age of 19 to star in The Boyfriend on Broadway. Some of her other stage performances include My Fair Lady, Camelot and Victor/Victoria. She has starred is numerous movies including The Sound of Music, Thoroughly Modern Millie, 10, Victor/Victoria, The Princess Diaries, and Shrek. She won an Oscar for Mary Poppins, her very first motion picture appearance. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Academy of Film and Television and in 2000 the title of Dame was bestowed upon her by Queen Elizabeth II for lifetime achievements in the arts and humanities.
She is the author or co-author of numerous children's books including Mandy, The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, Dumpy the Dump Truck, Dumpy Saves Christmas, Little Bo: The Story of Bonnie Boadicea, Little Bo in France and The Very Fairy Princess Series. She also published an autobiography, Home: A Memoir of My Early Years, in 2008.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Geraldine, this book's redheaded heroine, may look like an ordinary girl, but she harbors no doubts about her magical royal status: "I FEEL it inside-a sparkling feeling of just KNOWING in my heart." With great powers, however, come great responsibilities. A fairy princess must always wear her crown ("You never know who you might bump into... even on the stairs), shore up her mere mortal friends ("YOU sparkle when you play the trombone," she tells one), and always be on the lookout for problems to solve, like an escaped classroom hamster. Andrews and Hamilton's narrative voice, a mixture of self-assured proclamations and parenthetical confidences, is fun, and for every reference to glitter, tutus, and sparkle, there are examples of the heroine's rough-and-tumble side (sliding down a banister or pursuing a frog across a stream). Davenier's (Just Like a Baby) luminous and empathic watercolors act like fairy wings on this story. Even though the pictures are predominantly pink, there's nothing pale about Davenier's characterization; Geraldine radiates noblesse oblige, heedless energy, and a sense of destiny-she's Eloise crossed with Hillary Clinton. Ages 3-6. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
A modern-day girl explains what it's like to be a "fairy princess." With its self-regarding narrator and edifying parentheticals ("Fairy princesses are very practical...Fairy princesses are very supportive"), this moderately entertaining book owes a conspicuous debt to Fancy Nancy. Happily, Davenier is at her best, giving the pink-bedecked girl relatable real-world attributes such as unkempt hair and unroyal posture. Copyright 2010 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
A girl who believes she is really a princess isn't a new premise in children's literature, so it's refreshing to find a very real little girl as our protagonist, especially given a title that evokes an expectation of a more traditionally froufrou young royal. Geraldine (Gerry) just knows she is a princess and narrates the events of her day, offering commentary about her many doubters: My brother, Stewart, says princesses don't wear sneakers and don't have scabby knees. Gerry's type of princess isn't too precious; in response to her brother, she asserts, Fairy princesses are very practical. A long day passes breakfast, school, playtime, and dinner before the one person who never doubts her comes home: Daddy. Freckled, spiky haired, pink clad, and irrepressible, Geraldine is reminiscent of Eloise. She lets kids know it's not necessary to be prim and proper to be a real princess; princesses who just want to have fun will find plenty of that here.--Foote, Diane Copyright 2010 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
While tens of millions of viewers around the world are following the World Cup on television, the young boys in "Goal!" play a pickup game in a South African township that even more powerfully conveys a passion for "football." The boys play joyously in an alley (Ford's illustrations are brightly expressive, amid the dusty scene), while one keeps watch: "The streets are not safe," and the soccer ball is their prized possession. Sure enough, a meanlooking gang shows up to steal it, but this time the young players come out winners. THE VERY FAIRY PRINCESS By Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton. Illustrated by Christine Davenier. Little, Brown. $16.99. (Ages 3 to 6) Among all the princess picture books, this new one from Andrews and Hamilton - a mother-daughter team - offers a refreshingly different definition of "sparkle": Geraldine tells us she does "everything that fairy princesses do," including sliding down banisters and running for the bus ("scabs are the price you pay"). The message is that working hard in class, and sometimes getting a little carried away, can be part of being a princess too. THE HIVE DETECTIVES Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe. By Loree Griffin Burns. Photographs by Ellen Harasimowicz. Houghton Mifflin. $18. (Ages 10 and up) In this new volume from the excellent "Scientists in the Field" series, Burns takes up the case of a die-off of millions of honey bees in 2006. As a commercial beekeeper explains, the concern about bees is not abstract - "Your food supply depends on them"; beekeepers transport hives to Florida and California to help pollinate fruit trees. The mystery is not completely solved here (the culprit could have been a virus, pesticides or large-scale beekeeping itself), but the potential risk is clear. A FABULOUS FAIR ALPHABET Written and illustrated by Debra Frasier. Beach Lane Books. $16.99. (All ages) This brightly painted and collaged ABC is also a homage to state fairs everywhere: "C" is for candy (in neon lights, red-and-white-striped and pink-puffed), and "W" is for an arcade win, milk bottles flying. Some letters are a little too hard to make out ("outstanding," for prize-winning cakes and pies, takes close study), and that may limit the book's usefulness to alphabet newcomers. But the way Frasier brings to life a jaunty Ferris wheel, a sunburst-yellow pitcher of lemonade and a swirling roller coaster will nevertheless whet appetites for summer. THE QUIET BOOK By Deborah Underwood. Illustrated by Renata Liwska, Houghton Mifflin. $12.95. (Ages 3 to 5) "There are many kinds of quiet: First one awake quiet; jelly side down quiet; don't scare the robin quiet." Underwood's gently humorous text follows the same simple pattern throughout, accompanied by Liwska's penciled illustrations of some fuzzy animal characters (in an appropriately hushed palette). Not all is completely muted. A comical image shows the animals driving along, windblown, through a snowstorm in a convertible - "car ride at night quiet." Sort of. PICTURE THE DEAD By Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown. Fire/Sourcebooks. $17.99. (Ages 12 and up) Brown's striking portraits, drawings displayed throughout as though in a photo album, animate this artful Civil War-era novel. Jennie, 16 years old and an orphan, is left without prospects when Will, her fiancé, dies on the battlefield : his mother is her reluctant guardian, and makes it clear she is no longer welcome in the house. With the aid of a spirit photographer, Jennie attempts to get to the bottom of a mystery: How exactly did Will die, and why does she keep having such horrible dreams? The story is engrossing and the period details an added pleasure. JULIE JUST
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Geraldine is a young girl with a penchant for pink and a firm belief that she is, indeed, a fairy princess. This is a delightful look at a very girly girl. The first person narrative is nicely read by 12-year-old Alison Cordaro, her young voice adding authenticity to Gerry's situation. Sprightly music that changes with the text, as well as occasional sound effects, add to the production, immersing listeners in the story. The CD includes an interview with the mother and daughter author pair, exploring the writing process and the origins of the "Very Fairy" series. There is also an interview between Hamilton and the narrator. This CD would be at its best accompanied by the print book, as the text is obviously designed to be augmented by the illustrations and the pictures show Gerry as a much more well-rounded character than the "princessy" text implies. VERDICT This fun presentation will appeal to those little girls who also believe that they are true princesses.-Teresa Bateman, Brigadoon Elementary, Federal Way, WA (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
