Review Detail

Princess Cassandra has dresses, books, and servants, but she doesn’t have a best friend. Fortunately she has servants to send out to hunt for a best friend for her, and she asks for one in the form of a pet. A green pet to match her favorite green dress.

Princess Cassandra is presented with many different frogs, and she has plenty of fun with them through the pages of THE PRINCESS AND THE FROGS, but every night she kisses her new best friend goodnight, and every night the frog turns into a prince who wants to marry her. It’s an annoying turn of events for a princess who doesn’t want an prince; she just wants a pet frog. Eventually Princess Cassandra finds a frog for herself—and they have a lot of fun together, but when she kisses him goodnight he turns into a prince. But this time it’s a prince who just wants to be a frog. Cassandra gives up on her quest for a perfect pet, but her loneliness leads her back to a prince who wants to just be a frog. Fortunately, a kiss from Cassandra gives the prince his wish, and the two of them manage to be best princess-and-frog friends from there on out.

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROGS is a lovely retelling of the princess and the frog fairy tale. The illustrations are wonderful, and the story moves at a good pace. The moral of the story—that a good and fun friend is a better deal than a prince—is one that many parents will want to share with their daughters. Princess Cassandra is relatable with her pretty dresses and her books, and I especially like that Cassandra wears black converse with her pretty dresses.

My thanks to YA Books Central and publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for my unbiased review.