The Princess in Black Takes a Vacation

A light-hearted story for young children that works well as a read-aloud, but can be read by reasonably confident early readers too. The Princess in Black is an ordinary princess who puts on a disguise when she needs to fight monsters....

In this story she's worn out from so much work and needs a break. She leaves someone to take care of her goats and surroundings, and cycles off to the beach... only to find monsters that need to be fought there, too.

Mildly amusing in places, well written and I enjoyed reading it aloud to my five-year-old granddaughter. Definitely better than many princess or super-hero books.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-princess-in-black-takes-holiday...

I fell in love with the first Princess in Black book, as did many others and now it's so nice to revisit the series and see that it's still going strong and just as good as ever!

In her fourth adventure, the Princess in Black has been battling monsters all night and she's exhausted! Just when she's about to take a well-deserved nap, the monster bell rings again and she's back in the field. But she's too tired to do more than a "SLEEPY SLAM!" and yawn at the monster! Fortunately, she's not alone - the mysterious Goat Avenger shows up, ready to help her save the day - and give her a much-needed break. A vacation is just what Princess Magnolia needs and soon she's relaxing on the beach with Princess Sneezewort. But then a sea monster shows show more up! Will she ever get some sleep and her vacation in the sun? Meanwhile, the Goat Avenger is having his own problems keeping things under control back in the kingdom. Will the monsters take over while the Princess in Black is on vacation?

Fortunately, it all ends well since in her next adventure, the Princess in Black is taking another day off - for a playdate with Princess Sneezewort! While the Goat Avenger keeps the monsters away from the goats back at home, Princess Magnolia and Frimplepants, her unicorn, set off for the neighboring city. She and Sneezewort are having a lovely time when a monster attacks! Where could it have come from? Luckily, the Princess in Black just happens to be there, but she's having no success in tracking down the sneaky monster. Maybe she needs some help? Well, there's a new superheroine on the scene - the Princess in Blankets! Princess Sneezewort has read all about the Princess in Black and is determined to help protect her kingdom - but first they need to find the monster before they can fight it. It turns out that the Princess in Blanket has her own special skills, which are just what's needed to track down one sneaky, kitty-menacing, fluffy orange monster!

Pham's bright illustrations are as adorable as ever. Plump Princess Magnolia is both snazzy and cute, even when she's falling asleep while trying to fight monsters! It's fun to see more of the darker-skinned Goat Avenger and Princess Sneezewort, whose cheerful personalities shine through the cute illustrations and keep the stories moving briskly. The monsters continue their fuzzy but naughty theme, with some very charming pictures of the sneaky orange monster in the second book turning himself into different things to hide.

Verdict: These are pitch-perfect beginning chapter books, always a hit with my early readers up through upper elementary who still love the humor and pictures. They appeal to both boys and girls and make great family reads as well - don't be surprised if you have lots of Goat Avengers and Princess in Blankets running around your house and library after these latest titles! show less

Primary (Grades 2-4)
This book is about a princess who fights monsters. Over time she fights monsters constantly and wants to take a break. But every time she goes to sleep another monster makes an appearance. Even though she is tired she goes to fight the monster. One day she has help by a friend. After the monster leaves he tells her to go on vacation. While on vacation another monster makes an appearance and she is forced to fight another monster.
I would use this book to help challenge readers as they move from picture books. Especially if they like action and adventure. But it also tells of the importance of taking care of yourself and taking a break when you are tired. As this is a skill that we need to teach students so that they show more will be able to do their work to the best of their ability. show less

This is one of my favorite installments to the Princess in Black series. While I like the series and its protagonist, this one shakes up the formula a bit more and adds some action for our heroine's friends Duff and Sneezewort. Though be forewarned -- usually the monsters only threaten to eat goats, but here they threaten to eat people, an extra level of mild peril.

This book was recommended to me by an 8 year old girl and I can see why. In the book, a sweet little girl turns into the Princess in Black to fight monsters. She is strong, courageous and very girly. She likes frills and pink but changes into black to fight the monsters. In this particular book, she is tired and needs a vacation so her friend Duff takes over her duties. He becomes the Goat Avenger to save the day. Does the Princess really get a vacation? No, not really. At the beach she runs into a sea monster that she has to convince to eat fish instead of people. I think that girls would like this heroine because she always saves the day. She is fearless and confident which I think are good qualities to emulate. The illustrations are show more simple and sweet and the monsters aren't too scary. I am glad that there are super heros for girls too. I think if girls like this one book they will continue to enjoy the whole series. I like books in a series because it encourages readers to read more. The vocabulary is not too difficult and the chapters are short. The font is large and that is helpful for easy reading for kids. show less

Pretty cute stuff. I didn’t realize this was a series when I picked it up, my girls will probably be reading all of them now. It’s a chapter book, but there are lots of pictures and pages with big text, probably a step between an advanced easy reader and an actual chapter book. The story was fun, moved quickly, not a lot going on with the Goat Avenger, but I’m guessing that wouldn’t make too much of a difference if you’ve read the other books and know the character a little better.

I found this in our library when a customer was returning a book. It is a cute story of a little princess who has a secret identity and destroys monsters. When she tries to take a vacation, she has to fight a sea monster. Cute illustrations, great intro to chapter books.