I received The Rose Princess and the Special Gift from Bring it on Communications in order to review it. It is written by Mike de Vetter, illustrated by Travis Orams, and published by Fish Pond - a division of Deep Rivers Books. Here is their website if you'd like to read more books published by them: www.deepriverbooks.com. After reading my review, if you would like to buy the book for your own child, the ISBN 10: 1-935265-50-4 or ISBN 13: 978-1965265-50-4. You can buy it at amazon.com for under $10.
The Rose Princess and the Special Gift is a beautiful story about a gift the king left for his daughter. Inside the box is a hat, coins, and reading glasses. She puts the items in her bag and goes for a walk. Along the way, she meets three different people who happen to each need one of the gift items in her bag. She generously gives her gifts away. When she arrives home and sees her dad, the king, she cries because she's given away the gifts he gave her. He told her not to cry because she used the gifts wisely, and surprisingly, in walk the three people she gave the gifts to. The king is very pleased by his daughter's generosity and they all celebrate together with a special dinner.
My 4 year old son and I read this book together. I honestly don't have anything I disliked about the book. In fact, we both really enjoyed it and he keeps asking when I'm going to write about the book on the computer so he can have the book back! The illustrations are really nicely done, perfectly capturing the facial expressions of the characters. I also like how the three people the princess encounters are of three different races. The "moral" of the story is also great - about giving generously and how much it pleases the people you give to, your father(Heavenly or earthly), and yourself. My son said the book was wrong because it said she gave her gifts away, but really she just shared them, just like you're supposed to do. So, although he didn't get the "generous" concept exactly, he definitely understood the message of the book. He also said it is a "cool book."
I totally recommend this book to anyone with young boys or girls. I think it's good for kids 4 and up, maybe to about 10 years old.Labels: Book reviews