Princess Katie and the Silver Pony by Vivian French

I was scanning The Girl's book shelves this evening, and I realized she has as many books as I do. And I wonder why we're running out of space in our small townhouse! Anyway, we wanted to cuddle on the couch before her bedtime, and I suggested we grab a book that could be read in one sitting. Last summer, she received a gift certificate for her birthday and used it to buy books. Almost one year later, I figure it's time we read some of her purchases.

Princess Katie and the Silver Pony is book 2 in Vivian French's series The Tiara Club. The Girl was a bit tired this evening from her school walk-a-thon, so she wanted me to read to her, and we breezed through these 70 or so pages in about 30 minutes. French tells the book from the point of view of Princess Katie, one of the girls attending the Princess Academy. There are a couple of introductory pages about the academy, which we found helpful because we hadn't read the first book. Basically, the books follow 6 friends -- Katie, Sophia, Charlotte, Daisy, Emily, and Alice -- and their rival Perfecta as they attend various magical classes to earn tiara points. They need these tiara points to reside in the Silver Towers for perfect princesses next year.

In Princess Katie and the Silver Pony, the princesses take a wish class in preparation for the Royal Parade. The girls are asked by the fairy godmother, known as Fairy G., to write down their wish, and the princess whose wish benefits other people before herself will win 100 tiara points and a chance to ride on the Seashell Coach in the parade. Of course, Perfecta is willing to do anything for those tiara points, as she didn't receive enough the prior year to move ahead in her princess education.

This book is geared toward girls ages 6 to 9, and it was perfect for The Girl. She could have easily read this on her own, though I didn't mind reading to her, of course. And there was talk of princesses, fancy dresses, and dancing, which she enjoyed. French's writing makes it seem as though Katie is talking to you, which made the pages fly by. There's an illustration on nearly every page, which held The Girl's attention, but best of all was the message French delivers to young girls. The Princess Academy's school motto is, "A Perfect Princess always thinks of others before herself, and is kind, caring, and truthful." Those are some good values to promote, and even though the girls in the story aspire to be "perfect" princesses, they stumble but learn from their mistakes. The Girl has another book from The Tiara Club series on her shelf, and I look forward to reading it with her soon.

Here's what The Girl (age 8) had to say about Princess Katie and the Silver Pony:

This is a magical story about 6 princesses who have to make 1 wish. That 1 wish will have to go or stay, and what do they wish for? There also is a contest about a parade and whoever gets the most tiara points will get to ride in a carriage with 6 horses pulling it. I liked this book because it was very interesting.

Disclosure:  We purchased our copy of Princess Katie and the Silver Pony.


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