SERIES THURSDAY: Hamster Princess by Ursula Vernon
ABOUT THE BOOK
Sleeping Beauty gets a feisty, furry twist in this hilarious new comic series from the creator of Dragonbreath.
Harriet Hamsterbone is not your typical princess. She may be quite stunning in the rodent realm (you'll have to trust her on this one), but she is not so great at trailing around the palace looking ethereal or sighing a lot. She finds the royal life rather . . . dull. One day, though, Harriet's parents tell her of the curse that a rat placed on her at birth, dooming her to prick her finger on a hamster wheel when she's twelve and fall into a deep sleep. For Harriet, this is most wonderful news: It means she's invincible until she's twelve! After all, no good curse goes to waste. And so begins a grand life of adventure with her trusty riding quail, Mumfrey...until her twelfth birthday arrives and the curse manifests in a most unexpected way.
Perfect for fans of Babymouse and Chris Colfer's Land of Stories, this laugh-out-loud new comic hybrid series will turn everything you thought you knew about princesses on its head.
REVIEW
Vernon's new series has girl power to the nth degree. Young Harriet Hamsterbone is a princess with a curse. At her birth an evil fairy that wasn't invited to the baby's christening curses her to prick her finger on a spinning wheel and fall asleep for all her days. Well, this doesn't disturb Harriet as much as it should because she believes that it has made her invincible (the curse can't occur if she's dead before then can it?). This is thrilling to young Harriet because it means she can do the things she wants to do such as slay dragons and cliff jump. When the day of the curse arrives, so does the evil fairy, but Harriet has no intention of taking the curse lying down and she fights back. Things go awry and Harriet ends up as the only one awake while the rest of the castle sleeps within a nasty hedge of thorns. Now it's up to Harriet to find a way to break her own curse. Between the snide/sly comments mixed in with the amusing illustrations, Vernon has created another winning series. These fractured fairy tales make for some fun reading.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Princess Harriet is nobody’s hamster damsel in distress! Book two of this series for Babymouse and Princess in Black fans is filled with even more action and twisted fairy tale fun
Princess Harriet has absolutely no interest in brushing her hair, singing duets with woodland animals, or any other typical princess activities. So when a fairy tells a very bored Harriet about twelve mice princesses who are cursed to dance all night long, she happily accepts the quest and sets off with a poncho of invisibility and her trusty battle quail. But when she arrives at the Mouse Kingdom, she discovers there's more to the curse than meets the eye, and trying to help is dangerous business . . . even for a tough princess like Harriet.
From the creator of Dragonbreath, comes a laugh-out-loud funny new comic-hybrid series, bursting with girl power and furry fairy tale retellings.
REVIEW
Harriet Hamsterbone is not a princess that needs rescuing. In fact, she prefers to do the rescuing. But she isn't real excited about the opportunity a shrew fairy presents to her, at least not at first. She's been questing long enough to know all the tricks. But when she hears about the twelve princesses cursed to dance all night who are locked in their father's castle during the day, she determines that she really should help. But things get complicated when she meets the king, the highly-obsessively-organized king, and realizes the princesses are in more trouble than she thought. With the help of the stable boy/Prince Wilbur, her battle quail, and the invisibility cape the fairy gave her, she sets off to help the princesses break their curse, and hopefully help her own descendants in the process. Vernon has written another amusing fractured fairy tale with plenty of action, snide comments, and villains getting their just desserts.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Rapunzel gets a rodent twist in book three of the critically acclaimed and uproariously funny series that’s perfect for fans of Princess in Black and Babymouse.
Princess Harriet Hamsterbone does not like sitting around at home. How’s a princess supposed to have any fun when her parents are constantly reminding her to be careful and act princessly? So when her pal Prince Wilbur needs help finding a stolen hydra egg, Harriet happily takes up the quest. The thief’s trail leads them to a wicked witch and a tall tower, occupied by a rat whose tail has more to it than meets the eye!
The third book in the award-winning comic hybrid Hamster Princess series will make you look at rodents, royalty, and fairy tales in a whole new light.
REVIEW
Princess Harriet is up to her old tricks in this amusing take on the tale of Rapunzel. Harriet is called to help her friend Prince Wilbur when his friend hydra's egg gets stolen. Naturally, Harriet is prepared to swing her sword and cause plenty of mayhem. But she isn't quite prepared to end up in a land of such nice, nice creatures. And a tower without a door, a young rat with a tremendously long tail, and a nasty witch all present quite a challenge for the young adventurous. But with the help of Wilbur and her battle quail, Mumphrey, Harriet is quite sure that success is possible. Another winning fractured fairy tale in Vernon's repertoire, this series continues to delight with the mix of humor and adventure.
ABOUT THE BOOK
A magical beanstalk leads to a GIANT surprise in book four of the series that s chock-full of girl power and perfect for fans of Princess in Black and Babymouse.
Princess Harriet Hamsterbone doesn't go looking for trouble. She prefers to think of it as looking for adventure. But when she climbs to the top of an enormous beanstalk and sneaks into the castle at the top, Harriet finds plenty of both. The castle is home to one very poetically challenged giant rabbit with two unusual prisoners a girl who is half harp, half hamster, and an extremely large goose. This calls for a heroic rescue, and Harriet is just the hamster for the job.
The fourth installment of the critically acclaimed Hamster Princess series turns the story of Jack and the Beanstalk upside down, with plenty of laughs along the way."
REVIEW
Princess Harriet finds herself in trouble again when her battle quail, Mumphrey, inadvertently eats a magic bean. After a night of tummy troubles for the quail, Harriet awakens to find an enormous beanstalk in the middle of her campsite. Naturally, she has to climb it. At the top she discovers a castle (more of a cabin really). Inside is a harpster who desperately wants to be rescued. And Harriet can't bring herself to say no. This leads to some real trouble as Harriet attempts to steal a giant's stinky shoelace, unchain the harpster, free Mumphrey, and convince a goose that lays eggs when panicked to follow her to freedom. With plenty of daring-do and amusing illustrations, Vernon continues to provide young readers with lots to enjoy.
ABOUT THE BOOK
A funny, feminist twist on the Cinderella fairy tale for fans of fractured fairy tales
Princess Harriet Hamsterbone is not the kind of princess who enjoys fancy dresses or extravagant parties. Cliff-diving, fractions, and whacking people with swords are more her thing. So when she's forced to attend a boring ball in honor of a visiting ambassador, Harriet is less than thrilled--until a bewitchingly beautiful stranger arrives. Who is she? And where did she come from? The mystery leads to a not-so-wicked stepsister, an incontinent lizard, and a fairy's spell that's really more of a curse. Luckily, Harriet knows a thing or two about curses...
Smart, funny, and filled with swashbuckling adventure, book five in the critically acclaimed Hamster Princess series is a hilariously re-told fairy tale for the modern age.
REVIEW
In a version of Cinderella turned on its head, Princess Harriet sets out to help Ella (who she names Whiskerella when they first meet) get out of an unwanted fairy's spell. Harriet isn't thrilled to be at the ball in the first place, but when she spots Whiskerella, she's intrigued by this unknown beautiful hamster. She wants to know why Whiskerella slips in dances with all the princes and then slips out in her glass slippers. She also finds it odd that Whiskerella's quail and coach driver behave rather strangely. With the help of her friend, Wilbur, Harriet determines to find out what is going on with their strange visitor. And naturally, she finds herself up to her chin in trouble. I found myself laughing out loud at a number of parts in this story. I found this book in the series to be funnier than the others for some reason. Maybe it's because the story of Cinderella is such a well-known one that to see it turned on its head like this is just hilarious.
I've read the entire series this year. So much fun!
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