Princess Sophia and the Sparkling Surprise (The Tiara Club Series) »

Vivian French was best known in school for being extremely skinny and for talking a lot. At school she developed an attachment to words and later became an actor, then a storyteller, and finally a writer of children's books. She is the author of more than two hundred books. Ms. French lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, and has four grown daughters.

Every Princess has to make her own ball gown, but Princess Perfecta is determined to spoil the gowns and ruin the evening's surprise. Hopefully, Princess Sophia can show her what a true Perfect Princess is.

Children's Literature

This book, part of the "Tiara Club" series, is aimed at children who have recently made the transition to chapter books. It features moderately large print and one to three paragraphs per page with black-and-white illustrations on every double-page spread. First year princesses are gathered at the Royal Palace Academy for the Preparation of Perfect Princesses, where they learn all the princessly arts, such as making appropriate wishes, talking with dragons, and in this case the creation of perfect ball gowns. But preteen girls, even princesses, have the ability to be extremely catty, and Princesses Perfect and her toady Floreen demonstrate this characteristic well, making them the perfect princesses to despise. Vocabulary is kept simple and the plot moves this story along briskly, with plenty of spiteful nastiness to keep it interesting. Little girls who are dreaming that they might be real (but undiscovered) princesses, and who enjoy stories that are not action driven, will find this fluffy book amusing.