Monday, July 13, 2009

Chapter Books - The Tiara Club 4: Princess Alice and the Magical Mirror

We are definitely into the "first chapter" books nowadays. It is fun watching my 4 yr old bookworm enjoy listening to me read these more drawn out stories and understand the plot. What is even more fun is that she remembers a series premise and gets right into the next book so quickly. We are trying a variety of these "first chapter" books and have come across The Tiara Club series by Vivian French . This series is prefect for those girls that are into anything princess or just plain girly. The cover and then title is what first caught my wee bookworms eye. The series takes place in a boarding school type setting where young princesses go to learn the ins and outs of being a princess.

In this 4th book we find it centers around Princess Alice. She and her roommates need to still pass the "descending the staircase as if floating on air" test. Although Alice has practiced she has yet to master it. While getting ready for the test, she accidentally gets some of her friends in trouble. So, she goes to help make things right and misses her test. Knowing that without the points from passing the test she won't be able to go to the Garden Party, it is even harder knowing that she'll miss getting a chance to look into the Magical Mirror.

One of the fun things about this particular book is the underlining moral sense and the honesty that Princess Alice displays even though it would cost her something dearly. Great lead into some discussions about making good choices even when it is really hard. Never to early to plant little seeds I think. Even though this is a series, these books need not be read in order to enjoy.

It is hard to find this series at our library as these and many of the other "first chapter" books tend to be checked out. Plus, the summer reading program is in full swing here. The covers I have noticed do tend to be different between the UK publications versus the US. I personally like the UK's better. There is also a fun website that is connected with these books. Each book has a secret code word that you can plug in and get some fun activity pages. We did the coloring page and used the stickers that came with the book to fill it in. Read and fill your inner princess needs.

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