Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Children's Book Review: The Unruly Queen

The Unruly Queen

The Unruly Queen
Written and illustrated by:  E.S. Redmond
Published by: Candlewick Press, 2012
32 pages

from goodreads.com:
Fifty-two nannies in fifty-two weeks - and Minerva von Vyle is still impossible! Can anyone tame this spoiled, wild child?

"But what sort of queen lives with beasts in a cave?"

"The sort," Nanny answered, "who never behaves."

Minerva rules her household with shrieks and commands, demanding candy for dinner and refusing to entertain any discussion of bedtime. Indeed, fifty-two nannies have run screaming from the house. But when the elegant and bespectacled fifty-third nanny, undaunted by Minerva's tirades, appears on the scene to crown her young charge "the Unruly Queen," tutu-clad Minerva is thrilled - until she hears the details of the position. E. S. Redmond's brisk, bouncy rhymes and vibrant, delightfully detailed artwork portray Minerva's unyielding awfulness and Nanny's unshakable calm with comedic flair, prompting even the most unmanageable youngsters to be careful what they wish for.

* Luckily, my children aren't spoiled.  But if you do happen to know a spoiled child, this may be a good book to read to him or her.  I borrowed this book from the library.  Told in rhyme this story tells the tale of Minerva von Vyle, a spoiled child.  She goes through dozens of nannies (my kids don't know what a nanny is!) until the new nanny appears to crown Minerva the "Unruly Queen."  It sounds so exciting to Minerva....until it doesn't.  While I thought it was a cute story, it used a lot of difficult vocabulary for an almost six year-old.  The flow of the story gets ruined when she stops to ask what a word means on almost every page.   I enjoyed the illustrations in this story.  The dark grays, blacks, and browns, are complemented by pops of pinks and purples.

Family Rating: 1 thumb up.

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