Ok, let me first say that this is not a bad book. It has a fun message, a brave & clever heroine, and it might encourage a kid to read more books.

However, the ending is predictable from the first page. In fact, to this experienced reader, the main thrust of the ending (brave princess invents story to accomplish something) is predictable from the cover. And, given that I knew how it was going to end, the in-between seemed overly long and expository.

I also would have liked more specifics about the stories. *What* stories was the prince fond of? *Which* could he remember off the top of his head? *What* happened to the princess while she was in the capital city? All that detail could have been shared with us with only a very few more words.

Also, the pictures didn't work for me. Nice try, but fail. Imagine the detail of [a:Jan Brett|16325|Jan Brett|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1325711282p2/16325.jpg] but without the hard lines, with painterly texture. Just too busy & hard to see.

Sorry: 2.5 stars, rounded up because I don't want you to be dissuaded from checking it out of your library if you are interested. ( )

Genre: Fairytale
Age Appropriateness: primary, intermediate
Media: pencil and watercolor
Setting: The setting of the ship and ocean were important because if the princess had not been washed out to see she would not have had much of a story to tell the prince.
Review: This is a great example of fairytale, because it is a story about a prince and a princess who is told what is expected of them by their families. They find that they were destined to be together even in the midst of the challenges they faced along the way. ( )

Good girl power book about a very brave and imaginative princess. ( )