Note: I received a physical ARC of this book from the publisher at an ALA conference. ( )

If you are a person who likes super duper royal deluxe picture days, then you will love or like this book. This book is about a girl who is so excited about picture day. The girls name is Melissa Abigail Rose, but every one calls Melissa Missy. On the picture day morning Missy tries on 12 outfits. She also dressed her cat up nicely. She makes a mess in her room, and she messes up her cats things a mess. Then she tells her cat not to make a mess. ( )

Scholastic has debuted a new series of beginning chapter books called "Branches". They're intended to be a bridge between easy readers and beginning chapter books. They're illustrated, small format chapter books under 100 pages.

Missy loves unique outfits, but her mom doesn't always agree with her sense of style. When her mom takes away her carefully selected picture-day outfit and replaces it with the most boring outfit ever, Missy goes to school in an awful mood. However, a new friend and some clever last-minute thinking save the day and she gets to be a little fancy after all.

This is the easiest of the new series titles in this collection. It's only 72 pages long and heavily illustrated in full color. It's more of a graphic blend chapter book, with panels, speech bubbles, and only short paragraphs of separate text. The illustrations are very colorful (those that were finished in my galley) and there's lots of cuteness. The hardest thing with this book is figuring out exactly where it would go. It's a little long for an easy reader, too short for a chapter book and not quite a graphic novel. I'd probably put it in easy readers, which is where I put my Toon books.

Verdict: This is a cute idea, but there are already so many picture books/chapter books out there about girls who like glitter and pizzaz it's hard to see what this book adds. It also vibes rather young, say kindergarten level, but not many kindergarteners can read at this level. Unless you have a section that's just beginning chapter books, I'd recommend buying extra copies of Fancy Nancy and skipping this one.

ISBN: 9780545496094; Published May 2013 by Scholastic; ARC provided by the publisher at ALA Midwinter 2013

Missy's Super Duper Royal Deluxe #1: Picture Day (A Branches Book) - Library Edition by Susan Nees is a cute story for little girls.

It is about Melissa Abigail Rose and her VERY individual style and how she plans for picture day at school only to be thwarted by her mother and saved by her new friend Oscar.

My 4 year old daughter got a little bored with the story but it may be just a bit beyond her attention span capabilities. She stayed with me till the end despite the fidgeting.

I'm having a hard time feeling useful in my children's books reviews. Either she likes it or LOVES it.

I thought Missy was a little difficult and a little rude but Oscar was quiet and kind and helpful. ( )