Princess Smartypants Rules - Hardcover

PreSchool-Grade 2–The protagonist introduced in Princess Smartypants (Penguin, 1987) is back for another adventure. This time, the young royal of Totaloonia decides that it would be fun to have a baby. When she asks her mother if it would be possible to have one without getting married, the queen quickly replies, "Certainly NOT!" Thinking that Princess Smartypants needs something to occupy her time, the Queen puts her in charge of making the Royal Gravy for a banquet. The grocer misunderstands her phone order and sends a packet of "ready-mix BABY" instead. The resultant brown-skinned, super baby is kidnapped by evil Count Rottenghut in short order, and Princess Smartypants leads a squadron of dragons on a rescue mission. She is congratulated and put in charge of the kingdom while her parents go on tour. To help control the rambunctious infant, she enlists the help of two baby dragons to keep him out of trouble. The plot has too many twists and turns. The protagonist's actions do not ring true and she seems almost incidental to the story. The illustrations are humorous and help give some sense of personality to the characters. Purchase only where the previous story is in demand.–Wendy Woodfill, Hennepin County Library, Minnetonka, MN

Gr. 1-3. Princess Smartypants is back, and she wants to have a baby. Predictably, her mother thinks she should be married first. To distract her, the queen orders her kitchen-phobic daughter to prepare a royal banquet. However, in a mix-up with the grocer, the ready-mix gravy becomes a ready-mix baby, a supernaturally strong black one, who terrifies all the banquet guests except for the evil Count Rottenghut, who proceeds to steal him. Prince Swashbuckle, once turned into a toad by the princess, greets the count and stolen baby with glee, hoping the boy will aid in the secret takeover of Totaloonia. But Princess Smartypants (along with a squadron of dragons) saves the day, kingdom, and baby in one fell swoop. Later, when her boisterous baby becomes the palace pest, the princess sighs, "Perhaps some people are just not cut out to have babies" and ends up keeping him somewhat sedate with the help of two fierce baby dragons. The story is dizzying and eye-rollingly frivolous, but Cole's fabulous, funny illustrations will not disappoint fans of Princess Smartypants. Karin Snelson
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