Princess in Training
When it comes to being prim and proper, Princess Viola is a royal dud. The moat-diving, karate-chopping thrill seeker attends princess camp in hopes of learning to conduct herself in a more noble fashion. Despite rebukes from the camp’s etiquette-obsessed director (“Royalty does not skateboard”), Viola fails to dress, dance, or even wave in a remotely aristocratic way. And good thing, too, because a ferocious green dragon shows up, and the princess draws on her unusual talents to vanquish the beast, proving that acting nobly has little to do with fashion or frills. Berger’s spirited cartoonlike artwork amps up the merriment by blending comics elements (panels, motion lines) and action-oriented sound effects (Zip! Zup! Zoom!) with a pink-heavy palette and glitter-festooned cover. If the breezy story isn’t breaking entirely new ground, children will be having too much fun to notice, and Sauer’s message of being true to oneself is one they can’t hear enough. Preschool-Grade 1. --Kristen McKulski