Picture Books — Review

Kiss Me! (I'm a Prince!)

by Heather McLeod, illustrated by Brooke Kerrigan
Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 2011
ISBN 978-1-55455-161-3
$18.95, hard cover, 32 pp, ages 5 – 8
www.fitzhenry.ca

This fairy tale has a heroine with a mind of her own. When the frog asks Ella to kiss him so he can get back to being a prince and make her a princess, she decides it would be more fun to have a talking frog than a life of royalty. After awhile the frog gives up trying to be kissed and joins Ella in her games—they play hopscotch and Simon Says and go swimming in the pond. Eventually, however, a royal courtier retrieves the frog (prince) and takes him home. Ella is surprised to see the royal carriage reappear two weeks later carrying the prince (still a frog). This time he convinces her to kiss him, since the spell can be broken only by a true friend. Only when Ella is sure the prince wants to get back to normal, with promises that he will have more time to play, does she agree, ". . . and they played happily ever after." This book works at so many levels, with delightful illustrations, a connection to traditional fairy tales, and a message about what is important in life, that I think it would make a wonderful addition for school libraries and teachers' collections.

Review by Diana Mumford

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