A Palace Full of Princesses by Sally Gardner

A Palace Full of Princesses by Sally Gardner
Buy A Palace Full of Princesses by Sally Gardner at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Confident Readers
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: A bind-up of four favourite fairy tales for the emerging reader. You might know a princess who would love it.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 256	Date: November 2012
Publisher: Orion Children's Books
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1444007749
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Early readers are the stepping stones between picture books and 'real' books. They've still got plenty of pictures (very useful if you need the odd clue about a big word) but they've got more structure about them. Chapters give the emerging reader a sense of achievement and the end of a chapter is a useful point to aim for when you're just starting out. Above all they're stories which appeal to the reader so that it's not 'something you have to do at school' but an activity you really look forward to. If children get that idea in the early years at school then they have a pleasure which will stay with them all their lives.

Most girls go through a 'princess' stage at some point in their early years and they're the ones who are likely to enjoy Sally Gardner's collection of four favourite fairy tales. There's The Frog Prince, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. I'm not going to tell you about the original stories (you didn't know that Cinderella got her Prince?) but if you'd like to know more about the original books in the collection we have reviewed Snow White and Cinderella.

The stories are all beautifully told and are true to the original plots. Vocabulary is challenging, but appropriate and there are plenty of illustrations (also done by Sally Gardner) to make the pages turn faster and help with understanding the story. I read the book in hardback (the paperback version will be available in September 2013) and it would make a lovely present for an emerging reader.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

If you are looking for a similar collection for a boy then we can recommend Horrid Henry's Fearsome Four by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross. If you're looking for more fairy tales then you might like to look at our Top Ten Retellings of Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales.

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You can read more book reviews or buy A Palace Full of Princesses by Sally Gardner at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
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