Summer is almost here and we are currently working on our Summer Reading lists. One series of books that has made it on our list is, Hamster Princess. We are HUGE fans of Ursula Vernon and this retelling of Sleeping Beauty is exceptional.
Synopsis:
Harriet Hamsterbone is not your typical princess. She may be quite stunning in the rodent realm (you’ll have to trust her on this one), but she is not so great at trailing around the palace looking ethereal or sighing a lot. She finds the royal life rather . . . dull. 
One day, though, Harriet’s parents tell her of the curse that a rat placed on her at birth, dooming her to prick her finger on a hamster wheel when she’s twelve and fall into a deep sleep. For Harriet, this is most wonderful news: It means she’s invincible until she’s twelve! After all, no good curse goes to waste. And so begins a grand life of adventure with her trusty riding quail, Mumfrey…until her twelfth birthday arrives and the curse manifests in a most unexpected way.
We are huge fans of Dragonbreath, and with just finishing up Castle Hangnail, we were super excited to dig into the Hamster Princess. After all, Ursula Vernon is one of our favorite authors. At first my boys were a little reluctant to read the Hamster Princess, since it has princess in the title and well the cover is more girlish. However, the minute they cracked open the book and read the first page they were hooked! How could they not be?
Harriet is most definitely not your average princes. She does not excel at traditional princess arts such as needlepoint or looking ethereal, and she’s a terrible damsel in distress. She does the rescuing…when she’s not jousting, cliff-diving, or fighting ogrecats, that is!
These fractured fairy tales, with their unique graphic novel/chapter book hybrid format, are perfect for fans of Babymouse and Shannon Hale’s Princess in Black. And in a world of Timmy Failures, Wimpy Kids, and Big Nates, Hamster Princess fills a gap in the genre with a feisty female protagonist that can hold her own.
WIN,WIN,WIN
Ursula Vernon Prize Pack – Pack includes:
Hamster Princess Books 1 & 2
Advanced copy of Ratpunzel
Castle Hangnail (read more about it HERE)
Dragonbreath (First 5 books in the series)
