I had the great pleasure of writing the dinosaur part of Amicus Publishing’s Do You Really Want to Meet… series. One of the tricky things about writing within an existing series is making your voice fit with other books in the series. At first I really struggled with the narrative voice for the dinosaur books–I was supposed to write in second person and aim for a breezy yet informational tone, and I couldn’t figure out how to make it work. To help me, my editor had me use other books in the series as mentor texts, including Bridget Heos’. Reading her books, like Do You Really Want to Meet a Hippopotamus? and Do You Really Want to Meet a Camel?, helped me crack the code and find a voice that worked.

So it was very fun for me to see this book, also by Bridget Heos. Like the Amicus books, this one has an engaging title that hooks young readers right away: Who Wants to Be a Princess? (I can hear the chorus of “Me! Me! Me!”). The structure and content, of course is very different from the Amicus books, but this book also features Heos’ fun and engaging voice, the one I’ve come to so admire. She manages to convey lots of information in a genuinely conversational tone that’s a pleasure to read aloud:

Now it’s time to frolic in the forest. (That’s princess for “play.”) I bet you think I sing–la la la la–to the forest animals and that they sing back. Please. This is the real world. I practice riding and archery.

Most spreads have contrasting pages facing each other: on the left is a fairy tale princess scene, on the right a real-life princess scene.

It’s a wonderful book that is going to delight many wannabe princesses–and princes!–and also help them distinguish between fiction and nonfiction.

Alyson Beecher hosts the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge at kidlitfrenzy.com. Visit there for more great nonfiction picture books!

Who Wants to Be a Princess? by Bridget Heos, illustrated by Migy. (Henry Holt: 2017).