Lois Grambling is the author of more than twenty children's books, including CAN I BRING WOOLLY TO THE LIBRARY, MS REEDER? and CAN I HAVE A STEGOSAURUS, MOM? CAN I? PLEASE!? She lives in Binghamton, New York.
Grambling (Can I Have a Stegosaurus, Mom? Can I? Please?!?!) swoops down on a broomstick of her own and pulls readers aboard for some full-throttle storytelling. A feisty and accomplished witch named Bella wants to "live in a big castle, and wear silk gowns, dainty glass slippers, and a jeweled crown." Unable to cast a spell on herself that will do the job, she settles on marrying a prince and because this pointy-hatted heroine lives in a witty hodgepodge world that's a cross between Once Upon a Time and the 21st century, she finds what she's looking for in the personal ads. A familiar lesson about the value of self-esteem lurks in these pages (Bella feels the appropriately witchy wart on the end of her nose makes her "more beautiful than she already was"), but her Prince Charming's uncanny resemblance to Frankenstein makes the moral easy to swallow. Grambling's jaunty matter-of-factness gets ratcheted up to slapstick in Love's (First Day Jitters) busy if slightly unappetizing pictures. Heavy on bruised purples and greens, the pictures are chockablock with creepy details, from Bella's fingerless fishnet gauntlets and pea-colored fingernails to her cat's spike collar. Crowded spreads add to the visual discomfort an effect that might just strike the target audience as gleeful mayhem. Ages 3-9. (July) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
K-Gr 2-Bella, a thoroughly modern witch, dreams of being a glamorous princess and living in a big castle rather than a small cobwebby cottage on the outskirts of a big city. But a grand wizard has declared witches an endangered species and put a ban on them changing themselves into anything, and Bella's only hope is to marry a prince. Using all her wits and perusing the matchmaker ads, she manages to captivate a strange-looking young man, Prince Franklyn of Styne, who is enthralled by her cleverness and freakish beauty, and makes her his bride. Hilarious cartoonlike illustrations enhance this engaging story.-Sally R. Dow, Ossining Public Library, NY Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
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