Common Sense Media Review
By Regan McMahon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Princess tries to get a break in fun, action-packed volume.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 5+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
There's no rest for Princess Magnolia even on a sunny beach in THE PRINCESS IN BLACK TAKES A VACATION. As the story begins, she's so tired of monster fighting she's falling asleep on her pony, Blacky, and yawning instead of roaring at a monster. When the masked and caped Goat Avenger shows up to help (she doesn't realize it's actually Duff, the goat boy), he tells her she needs a vacation. He offers to stay in the pasture to watch out for monsters and save the goats while she's gone. She bikes to a lovely beach, where she runs into suspicious Princess Sneezewort ... and a sea monster who's threatening to eat the beachgoers. Can she save them, too?
Is It Any Good?
Duff the goat boy, aka the Goat Avenger, gets more to do in this action-packed volume with two fun stories to follow. In alternating chapters, we see him hunting and fighting monsters in the pasture and Princess Magnolia/the Princess in Black sleepily fighting a monster, then heading to the beach for a break, then having to fight the sea monster who rises in the water. HIs storyline turns very silly when he traps a squirrel instead of a big monster, and the squirrel helps him defeat a big one-eyed monster who looks like an acorn. There's never a dull moment in either storyline. And even Princess Sneezewort gets to do something brave to save the Princess in Black.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the monsters in The Princess in Black Takes a Vacation. Are any of them real?
Do you think even superheroes get tired of rescuing folks all the time and need a vacation? Does your family go on vacation? Where have you gone?
What do you think about how this series is going? Do you like Duff getting more to do as the series goes on? What do you think will happen in the next book?
Book Details
- Authors :
- Illustrator : LeUyen Pham
- Genre : For Beginning Readers
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic ) , Adventures , Friendship
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Candlewick Press
- Publication date : November 8, 2016
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 5 - 8
- Number of pages : 96
- Available on : Paperback, Hardback, Apple Books
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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