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Summary
Summary
Romy wants to go to Princessland, where all girls are princesses. In Princessland, there are castles and royal balls, sparkling rivers and flower crowns. Romy's pet, the Lady Cat, promises to take her there. They spend the day climbing trees, dancing in the marketplace, and weaving daisy chains beside a fountain. Then the Lady Cat leads Romy home. But Romy didn't get to visit Princessland . . . or did she?
Author Notes
Emily Jenkins's many acclaimed picture books include Lemonade in Winter: A Book About Two Kids Counting Money and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Books Five Creatures and That New Animal. She also writes middle-grade books and novels, including Toys Go Out and The Secret Life of Billie's Uncle Myron. She teaches writing for children at Hamline University and lives in Brooklyn, New York-a magical place in and of itself. Visit her at www.emilyjenkins.com.Yoko Tanaka is a London-based illustrator. She has previously illustrated children's books by Kate DiCamillo and Keith McGowan. Her paintings have been shown in galleries in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Denver. Learn more about her at yoko-tanaka.com.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Jenkins's (Tiger and Badger) contemporary fable stars a girl named Romy who is so bored that she doesn't know what to do with herself. The family feline, the Lady Cat, wanders away from the house, and the cat asks the accompanying Romy to tell her all about Princessland, where she'd prefer to be. "In Princessland," Romy muses, "everyone lives in a castle with tall, tall towers.... They can look out their windows and see for miles." Readers, meanwhile, see that the Lady Cat has taken Romy up into a tree, where she, too, can see for miles. Shades of shell pink and moss green add elegance to Tanaka's (Blanket & Bear, a Remarkable Pair) muted spreads; the town where Romy lives rivals Princessland for misty allure, as the girl describes elegant nightly balls and princesses who fight dragons while riding horses and lions. The messages are familiar-there's plenty of wonder in the real world, and imagination and storytelling offer surefire tickets into other ones-sentiments that are even easier to accept when they come from a talking cat. Ages 3-6. Illustrator's agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Feeling bored, Romy wishes she could visit the fantastical Princessland. She joins her pet cat on a conversational stroll around their diverse neighborhood, explaining what happens in Princessland (e.g., everyone lives in castles with "tall towers") before discovering the everyday magic right outside her door (tree-climbing to enjoy the view). Warm, detailed illustrations add to this pleasant story of imagination and appreciating what's around you. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Who wouldn't want to be a princess? Romy certainly does. She's having a grumpy day and tells her mother that the only thing that would make her happy is to be in Princessland. So when Lady Cat, sunning on the porch, stretches and meanders off, Romy follows, describing what life is like in her ideal world (All the girls are princesses. . . . There are good things to eat whenever you want them). When Lady Cat climbs a tree, Romy clambers after, envisioning Princessland's tall, towered castle, complete with princesses in beautiful dresses and flower crowns, dancing at balls. Best of all, she tells Lady Cat, each princess has a horse or a flying lion for battling dragons. As the sun sinks in the sky, the two retrace their steps for dinner, content to be in their own happy castle, surrounded by the special magic of home. Full-color spreads done in soft pastels show intricate details of diverse, smiling princesses with pets, flowers, jewels, and sweets. A feast of imagination.--Gepson, Lolly Copyright 2016 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-Romy longs more than anything to visit a fantasy world she calls Princessland. She sits around the house moping, unwilling to do much of anything. It isn't until Lady Cat awakens and leads Romy out of the house that the girl even attempts to change her bad mood. The pet gently encourages Romy to share just what it is about Princessland that she likes so much, implying that she can take Romy to this magical place. As Romy explains, the cat leads her to a bakery (as the girl talks about the food in Princessland), up a tree (when Romy talks about the great view from Princessland's castle), and through the local market (where Romy describes dancing in a ballroom). Along the way, Romy slowly comes to realize that sometimes the greatest journeys occur in one's own imagination. Tanaka's soft, dreamlike illustrations make a great complement to Jenkins's text. The illustrations show each of the places that the cat takes Romy as well as the imaginary places that Romy takes the cat. Lady Cat behaves like a feline yet still manages to pull Romy out of her bad mood. VERDICT A delightful ode to imaginative play that young dreamers are bound to enjoy.-Heidi Grange, Summit Elementary School, Smithfield, UT © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A fantasy world of perfect princesses gives a young girl a respite from a bad mood.Romy is having a blah, listless day, the kind when "Romy didn't even want to be Romy." She yearns for a place called Princessland and sets off to find it with help from the Lady Cat. But the Lady Cat's plan is a little oblique. The feline leads Romy through town, from a bakery to the city square to a park, asking her to describe the finer details of Princessland while promising to take her there. "In Princesslandthere are balls every night in enormous, airy rooms lined with marble tiles," Romy rhapsodizes as she and the cat listen to a musician at the market and she imagines a ball. By the end of the day, though Romy has described the destination in detail, she's sad to realize the cat hasn't actually taken her there. But of course, the Lady Cat has done just that, pushing Lola to travel by imagination. Expressive paintings blend the Princessland in Romy's head with city scenes as she and Lady Cat explore. Romy is a dark-skinned little girl with long brown hair and blue eyes, and the princesses are racially diverse if otherwise stereotypically froufrou. Although not the princess corrective some parents may wish for, the book's little lesson is one worth sharing: what's in the mind's eye is often more lavish and sweet than the real thing could possibly be. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
