Princess Buttercup: A Flower Princess Story – Puffin Young Readers Level - 2

Author: Wendy Cheyette Lewison

Illustrator: Jerry Smath

Year: 2001

Publisher: Puffin Young Readers, New York

Age: 4 and above

No. of Pages: 32

ISBN: 978-0-448-46123-6

Princess Buttercup is a classic fairy tale of frolicking innocence and fantasy from the Puffin Young Readers series.

It is the first day of spring and six Flower Princesses wake up to a beautiful morning. It is also the perfect day to host a party. Princess Buttercup is asked to pick flowers for the party. She follows a butterfly into the woods and soon she is lost. She then hits upon an ingenious idea to find her way back to the magic garden.

Excerpt

Soon the butterfly sees the buttercup,

Down, down it flies.

Now the butterfly is just over her head.

She grabs hold of it and …

Whee! Off they go!

Other titles in this series

• Level - 1: A new friend
• Level - 1: At the beach 
• Level - 1: Ice Cream Soup
• Level - 1: Max has a Fish
• Level - 1: Nicky Upstairs and Down 
• Level - 1: Play with Blue
• Level - 1: Tiny goes camping 
• Level - 1: Tiny the Birthday Dog 
• Level - 1: Tiny the Snow Dog 

• Level - 2: Cowboy Roy
• Level - 2: Red, White and Blue
• Level - 2: Shape Spotters
• Level - 2: Snug Bug
• Level - 2: The Garden that we grew  
• Level - 2: The very lonely firefly
• Level - 2: Who stole the cookies?

• Level - 3: Agapanthus Hum and the Eyeglasses
• Level - 3: Amanda Pig on her own
• Level - 3: Why do birds sing?

One Magical Day

Author: Claire Freedman

Illustrator: Tina Macnaughton

Year: 2007

Publisher: Little Tiger Press, London

Age: 4 and above

No. of Pages: 32

ISBN: 978 1 84506 457 0

Claire Freedman waves her pen once more to create a magical book that celebrates the beauty of life through the eyes of young ones – fawns, ducklings, lambs, piglets, puppies and more.

While the lyrical text is captivating by itself, the illustrations by Tina MacNaughton make this book a keeper.

I would hesitate to tag this one a children’s book, because it could very well be the perfect feel-good book for parents too! We sometimes need a child’s perspective to awaken the wonder of the world around us. :-)

Excerpt

Into the stable the bright sunlight streams,

Bathing the foal with its soft, golden beams.

Sun-drowsy kittens pad home to their mother.

Washed one by one, they curl up with each other. 

Miss Spider’s New Car

By David Kirk

Year: 1997

Publisher: Calloway and Kirk Company and Scholastic Press, New York

Age: 7 and above

No. of Pages: 36

ISBN: 978 0 59030 713 4

Mrs. and Mr. Spider are shopping for a car. With lyrical flamboyance and unbridled creativity, the book spins a web of fantasy and fun with a dash of adventure.

Their adventures are portrayed in the brightest hues of red, green, blue and more on glossiest paper. All of this is packaged in a hardback edition that’s bound to be a winner with many children even those who despise spiders and other creepy-crawlies.

In most books that have lyrical prose, big words tend to creep in. And they certainly have, here too.

Excerpt

“The wheel is out of date,” whooped Hop.

“Just like a dinosaur.

Our flexo-flea spring loaded legs

Are what you’re looking for.

Just pull the round brown throttle down

And hear the engine roar. 

Little Pink Ballerina

Author: Ronne Randall

Illustrator: Helena Owen

Year: 1997

Publisher: Ladybird Books, London

Age: 4 and above

No. of Pages: 28

ISBN: 978 0 72141 923 2

Little Pink Ballerina packages most little girls' dream to be a ballerina in a charming story of grit, determination and hard work. 

Madame Plie is about to host a special performance of the Fairy Princess Ballet. She announces that the most graceful ballerina will dance the lead part of the Star Fairy Princess.

All the little ballerinas work hard and manage to “whirl, twirl, leap” except for the Pink Ballerina. Her moves are limited to “whirl, twirl, thump!”.

After hours of practice, she’s inspired by Madame Plie’s words: A fairy princess must be graceful as a feather floating through the air…”. 

Yes, the story has a fairy-tale ending and I won’t ruin it for you. :-)

Other books in this series:

• Little Yellow Digger, Review here
• Little Red Car
• Brave Little Train
• Little Blue Tractor
• Big Little Bus
• Noisy Little Truck
• Forgetful Little Fireman
• Busy Little Postman
• Daisy Little Dancer
• Brilliant Little Elephant
• Bold Little Tiger

Excerpt

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something flutter down from the cherry tree.

It was a slender, silvery-white feather. The Pink Ballerina watched as it drifted gracefully through the air. And she remembered Madame Plie’s words…

Baby Brains Superstar

Author and Illustrator: Simon James

Year: 2005

Publisher: Walker Books, London

Age: 4 and above

No. of Pages: 30

ISBN: 978-1-4063-0202-8

Baby Brains is a genius, who can sing and play like a maestro. He finishes music school in just two weeks and finds fame through a local talent contest.

He gets to be the opening act at the biggest open air music concert of all time. He writes a special, new song, gets a special rock-and-roll costume and his hair styled.

At the concert, is the twist in the tale!

Excerpt

At nine o’clock Baby Brains was flown by helicopter to the stadium and then lowered down on to the stage.

Two hundred thousand fans cheered for Baby Brains.

Everyone watched as he plugged in his guitar.

Baby Brains looked up at the thousands of people sitting in the stadium.

Tooth Fairy in Trouble

Author: Julia Jarman, Wikipedia

Illustrator: Mariam Latimer

Year: 2008

Publisher: Macmillan’s Children’s Books, London

Age: 5 and above

No. of Pages: 48

ISBN: 978 1 44720 961 4

Poor little Tooth Fairy! She’s harassed by Nasty Norman, a terribly rude and mean brat of a boy.

To add to her misery, she’s overworked and the Fairy Queen is quite cross with her too. Meanwhile Nasty Norman has set a trap for her but this time he’s bitten off more than he can chew. 

She’s, after all,  a fairy with a magic wand and secret powers!

This delightfully imaginative book belongs to the “I am reading” series from Pan Macmillan.

Excerpt

Tooth Fairy was in big trouble. She could feel herself becoming visible. Her fairy powers were draining away. Hoping she still had some left, she whirled her wand.

“Izzy wizzy, if you don’t let me out!

You’ll see your nose turn into a snout.”

Molly and the Lost Cows

By Antonio Vincenti

Year: 2003

Publisher: Pelangi Books, Malaysia

Age: 3 and above

No. of Pages: 16

ISBN: 978-9-83000-247-0

This is a tender story of the “odd-one” in the group.

Molly is a cow made of glass. The other cows don’t want her to play with them. She’s sad but she gets to save the day for Farmer Zeno when she uses her creativity to bring home her lost friends.

The illustrations are simplistic and uncluttered yet appealing. I wish this had been an animated TV series.  

Excerpt

Zeno calls the cows in a loud voice but the cows can’t hear him.

Zeno is very worried.

Molly has an idea!

She stands under a tree that is full of nuts. When the nuts fall on Molly, it sounds like a big glass bell!

Princess Polly and the Pony – Usborne First Reading

Author: Susanna Davidson

Illustrator: Dave Hill

Year: 2007

Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd., London

Age: 6 and above

No. of Pages: 48

ISBN: 978 0 74609 171 5

The kids always enjoy a humorous princess story and this book fit the bill, perfectly.

Princess Polly loves horse riding and of course, the King and Queen are aghast that she’s not interested in practicing her princess wave or trying on tiaras.

She’s annoyed with her parents’ restrictions until she sees a poster for Pony Games where the first prize is a Royal Wish. Naturally, Princess Polly gets what she wants.

Excerpt

“If I’m in costume, no one will know it’s me!”

Princess Polly spent the next hour looking at her father’s crowns. The King talked and talked and talked.

Polly didn’t hear him. She was thinking about her costume. 

Baby Bear’s Birthday Hiccups

Author: Penny Little

Illustrator: Lara Jones

Year: 2008

Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Books, London

Age: 3 and above

No. of Pages: 32

ISBN: 978-0-230-53176-5

Little Baby Bear’s birthday party is almost over when he’s suddenly hit with a bad case of hiccups.

There follows a series of well-intended remedies. Mummy Bear rubs his tummy, Little Leopard tickles him, Little Hippo gets him to hold his breath and more.

Finally, it’s time for bed and that's when the perfect hiccup cure arrives.

Excerpt

“What you need is to calm down,: said Nanny Giraffe softly.

“And Nanny Giraffe’s kisses are the cure for hiccups.”

She bent down low and gave Baby Bear …

One

Two

Three big kisses!

“All gone?” soothed Nanny Giraffe.

“Hic!” went Baby Bear.