The Princess in Black and the Bathtime Battle
By Regan McMahon,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Princess-heroes team up to fight (and clean) stinky monster.
Add rating
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this book.
Where to Read
Community Reviews
Based on 1 parent review
Report this review
What's the Story?
THE PRINCESS IN BLACK AND THE BATHTIME BATTLE starts as The Princess in Black notices a stinky green haze outside her castle and follows it to the goat pasture, where she and the Goat Avenger then push it toward another kingdom. But the princess there -- Princess Snapdragon -- doesn't want it. So she puts on her hero disguise as Flower Girl, leaps on her dragon, disguised as Horsefly the Pegasus, and joins them to chase the smell away to the west with flowers. But Princess Honeysuckle in the west doesn't want it, so she dons her outfit as Cartwheel Girl and takes her wolf, disguised as Good Dog, to the the pasture, as well. Together, all four of them set up a big fan and blow the green haze to Princess Orchid's kingdom. But she doesn't want it, so she gets in her costume as Miss Fix-It and goes with her reindeer, disguised as Doom Rabbit the bunny, to the pasture. The Princess in Blankets and her unicorn, Corny, come too. The Princess in Black discovers that this isn't just a big smelly blog: There's monster under the green goo and garbage! So they decide to give him a bath to get him smelling sweet and then send him back underground to Monster Land.
Is It Any Good?
This wacky adventure is loaded with gross, smelly stuff kids will enjoy as well as great messages about teamwork and problem-solving. It's fun to see that all of The Princess in Black's princess friends' have their own secret hero personas -- and unusual hero pets, too! The Princess in Black and the Bathtime Battle ends with a hint that there are "more heroes out there." This beloved series shows no sign of slowing down.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the heroes in The Princess in Black and the Bedtime Battle work together to solve a problem. Have you ever had a problem that you and your friends or family members solved together? What happened? Did it help having other people's ideas?
If you had a secret hero identity, what would your name be? What would your costume be? Do you have a pet who could also be a hero in disguise and go on adventures with you?
Why do you think this series is so popular? What's fun about it?
Book Details
- Authors: Shannon Hale , Dean Hale
- Illustrator: LeUyen Pham
- Genre: For Beginning Readers
- Topics: Princesses, Fairies, Mermaids, and More , Superheroes , Adventures , Friendship , Great Girl Role Models , Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Candlewick
- Publication date: November 26, 2019
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 5 - 8
- Number of pages: 96
- Available on: Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Kindle
- Last updated: October 30, 2020
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
Where to Read
Our Editors Recommend
Adventurous Princesses
Best Book Series for Early Readers
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate