Tag Archives: princess

374Y: The Prince’s Love Triangle

Here is my description of the book:
Borrowed from library mid 1990s, a children’s picturebook. It’s title may have the word “love” in it. 
A little prince character called something like “Prince Curlique” (but I’m not sure of the spelling) because of his crazy hair/a curl  (sticks up?) on his head. 
He’s really smart but short or ugly or some unfortunate attribute.
He might get lonely and seek a girlfriend at some point, has sort of a love triangle with two princesses who are sisters trying to decide which one to marry(?)
He’s prone to being a bit harsh and testing his potential love interests if iirc
One princess is called Mira or Myra because she is an admirable yet unattractive genius level smart girl. She is the obvious match but his heart leans in other directions. The other princess is called Dora because she is an adorable hottie, she is however cursed with being clumsy and possibly unintelligent? Or inarticulate?
The ugly little prince curlicue guy and one or other of the princesses are pictured on a swing or seat together maybe on the final page?
The illustrations are very whimsical and to my memory lush and detailed, with historic rococo style maybe.
There is one page with a drapey princess canopy bed i think? The book starts with some of the characters as babies?
It’s kind of inappropriately romantic for kids in a way like that naked squashed fairy book from the same era because it’s about characters falling in romantic love with each other and the relationship stuff.
I think Mira/Myra is in love with Curlicue but I don’t think she prevails because of not being hot like her sister. I think one or other sister is also grossed out by him and that might have had moral repercussions.
There is some witchcraft involved possibly but more like the hand of fate because I don’t remember an antagonist.
I think Dora was Dancing and stepping on people’s toes because she was so clumsy 
Curlicue had red or blond hair.
Any of these remembered details may be somewhat incorrect. 
If I had to make comparisons, the alt love story of “Jane and the Dragon” is a well known one that’s vibe has similar whimsy. I think Myra was quite a roll-up-your-sleeves and get it done person and the art was similarly soft and evocative. The writing was dreamy and aphoristic, possibly why the story has not stayed on the shelves. But also something dark and sad about the characters’ difficulties finding love. 
I know beautifully illustrated kids storybooks are on high turnover in my library now, but they did have it once, would they have a record of decades-back purchased, now cancelled, books? Also I’m not sure if the high turnover was as rapid in the mid to late 1990s as it is today, so conceivably this book was 1980s at the earliest and just hung out on the shelf not getting borrowed much. The style would not have been any earlier based on the production techniques and the fact it was a fresh edition that we borrowed (but now so unknown to the internet that it must not have had many reissues if any)
I think that’s all I can think of that’s relevant. I would have said the book had a square format, normal picture book length  and possibly a soft cover no dust jacket? I’d have said slightly gloss paper rather than matte But I could be wrong about the soft cover.No idea of the publisher. If I had to guess would have thought the author might be American rather than British but that’s not a strong conviction.

I have a feeling the name curlicue is a total red herring and it may have been “Prince Quiff” or similar. But it related to his hair and unfortunate looks. The love interests’ names I’m more confident of because of their in-narrative meanings.

371W: Doily cut out Valentine’s Day book

I don’t remember it being explicitly about Valentine’s Day, but it was always put out with the children’s books around Valentine’s Day. The art style was very distinct and was doily/paper cut outs. What I remember about the story is that it was about a set of sisters who were princesses. There may have been 12 sisters. I encountered it in the 1980’s in rural Ohio.esssister

362W: Princess Escapes Maze, Slays Dragon

Looking for a fantasy book probably published before 1995, with a female protagonist, some form of princess I think. Early in the book she is caught in some sort of maze and manages to get out with some sort of dimensional (vorpal) sword? But the thing I definitely remember is that in the end she slays a dragon and collects the last drop of its heart’s blood as some sort of magical stone. Thanks!

361V: The Ungrateful Princess (Solved!)

I don’t remember the name or author. I had this book as a child in the late 90s-early 2000s but it could be older. It had really beautiful illustrations with a cut paper kind of vibe? It was about a spoiled, selfish girl, maybe a princess. She drained all the water from a fountain and killed all the fish. And there was some kind of ceremony to find her a husband but she rejected all the gifts and was rude and she was sent away. She found a unicorn in a thorn bush and rescued him even though she got pricked by the thorns and tore her dress to bandage the unicorn’s leg and then she learned her lesson about being a jerk.

355N: Selfish Prince

I am looking for the following children’s book.
 
It is about a selfish prince who sends out people to find him a bride.  Each time they bring back a princess he rejects them until he meets Rose.  Rose refuses to marry him for a year while she rules over his kingdom and changes it from a selfish place to a generous and happy place.

349S: Picture Book about Spoiled Rotten Princess Who Lives With the Gypsies (Solved!)

Here are all the details I can remember:
 
It was a picture book, but one with medium to a lot of words. I read it between 1990-1992, and I think it might have been a new copy, but I have no idea when the copyright was. I remember really loving the pictures!
 
It was a story about a little princess who is so loved by her father, but she is spoiled rotten and for her birthday he hires some gypsies to perform for her. She throws a fit over something and then, after she’s supposed to be in bed, she overhears him say that he wishes she would be a sweet girl (possibly like one of the gypsy girls?) or she will not be fit to run the kingdom.  
 
She either runs away or is taken by the gypsies, and they live a life of hard work and expect her to do it too. After only a little while, she fits right in and her skin turns brown from being out in the sun, and she almost forgets about her former life. 
 
The gypsies perform for lots of people, and they teach her to perform too. One day they go to a castle that seems familiar, but it isn’t until she sees her father that she remembers her previous home. She runs to his arms and he commends her for learning to be good. 
 
Anyway, that’s about all I can remember. I hope you can help!

345C: Children’s Princess book with a dress making competition to find new Queen

I’m looking for a book that I remember absolutely loving when I was about 6 or 7. The plot that I remember is about a young princess whose mother died when she was young. She loves dresses and her father the King thinks that as she grows up, it’s very important that she has a mother figure. So he (or maybe someone else) decides to start a kingdom-wide competition where all the women design their own gowns and there will be a big ball and the princess will choose which dress she likes best, and that will be her new mother. I think the book shows all the rich women in the kingdom spending all of their money on these fancy dresses and then there is a poor woman who makes her own beautiful and simple dress and goes to the ball and of course she gets picked to be the new Queen! I think there may be other details about the poor woman and the princess, but I can’t remember any! I thought that the title was something like The Princess Dress or something like that, but that may be completely wrong too.
This would be a fantasy children’s picture book. Probably aimed at grades kindergarten to second grade. I read it around the years of 2000-2002, but I don’t know when it was published.
I hope you can help! This has been driving me crazy for years!!

344P: Red Haired Princess Must Kill Mother With Ceremonial Dagger

I’m searching for the title of a young adult fantasy book about a Celtic princess with red hair, who in order to become queen must kill her mother with a their ceremonial dagger, according to their tradition. I thought the title was QUEEN’S BLADE or WITCH'S BLADE, but I haven’t had any luck locating the book. I also think the princess had a Roman father. Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated. Thank you!