Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep (Princess Tales)
Grade 3-6-This installment in the series features Princess Sonora as Sleeping Beauty. The fairies in this fractured tale endow the princess with a few too many gifts at her naming ceremony; not only is she "the smartest human in the world," but she is also "ten times as smart as any human in the world." As a result, Sonora crawls only in perfectly straight lines and perfectly round circles, reminds the Royal Nursemaids to wash behind her ears, and diagnoses her own illnesses. She also refuses to sleep, preferring to spend her evenings reading, or thinking up questions and then answering them-she knows she'll get plenty of sleep during the 100 years promised by the spiteful fairy Belladonna. The more-than-a-little precocious princess decides that she will choose the most opportune moment to prick her finger, thereby putting the castle grounds to sleep. However, things don't go exactly as planned. Levine's witty takeoff is clever and humorous, but without the depth or thorough character development that so distinguished Ella Enchanted (HarperCollins, 1997). This amusing, light read will stir children's imaginations and encourage them to explore further the richness of fairy tales.Robin L. Gibson, Muskingum County Library System, Zanesville, OHCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.