Princess Hyacinth (The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated) »

Florence Parry Heide is an award-winning writer with more than fifty books under her belt, including the Treehorn titles, illustrated by Edward Gorey. She lives in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Lane Smith’s many accolades include a Caldecott Honor Medal, two New York Times Best Illustrated Book awards, several LA Notable Awards, and countless “Best Book” citations from School Library Journal, Booklist, The Bulletin, and others. He lives in Washington, Connecticut.

A bestselling Caldecott Honor artist and legendary author team up!

A publishing event! Florence Parry Heide, author of such classics as the Shrinking of Treehorn, and Lane Smith, recipient of a slew of awards, have created an unforgettable princess sure to charm and delight young readers.

Princess Hyacinth has a problem: she floats. And so the king and queen have pebbles sewn into the tops of her socks, and force her to wear a crown encrusted with the heaviest jewels in the kingdom to keep her earthbound. But one day, Hyacinth comes across a balloon man and decides to take off all her princess clothes, grab a balloon, and float free. Hooray! Alas, when the balloon man lets go of the string . . . off she goes. Luckily, there is a kite and a boy named Boy to save her.

Publishers Weekly

While Heide's celebrated Treehorn found himself shrinking, her new Princess Hyacinth floats. The delight to be found in both books is not in explaining why these fantastical things occur, but in how children with even the most unusual problems solve them in ways that adults cannot imagine. To keep her from floating away, Hyacinth's protective parents have literally weighted her down with diamond pebbles and a crown with “the heaviest jewels of the kingdom.” Smith pictures Hyacinth yearning for freedom as she sits in her bathing suit watching swimmers while belted to a heavy bench, or stoically drags her heavy clothing around the castle. The quirky oil and watercolor illustrations seamlessly match Heide's wry, understated text, and when Hyacinth eventually does float away, it's her soul mate, named Boy, who lends a hand and opens a new, freer chapter in her life. Heide possesses the ability to tell a moralistic tale without a hint of didacticism and makes this singular tale seem like the story of every girl who meets a boy, shedding the protective rules of her parents in exchange for a life where she is “never bored again.” Ages 4–8. (Sept.)