Buckle and Squash: The Perilous Princess Plot

by Sarah Courtauld (Author)

Buckle and Squash: The Perilous Princess Plot
Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade

Once upon a time, on the Old Tumbledown Farm, in the Middle of Nowhere, in the Forgotten Corner of the Kingdom, deep in the realm of Squerb, two young girls dream of their destinies. Lavender knows that her destiny is to become a fairy-tale princess and is almost certainly going to feature a handsome prince. Eliza is having none of that-her destiny involves battling dragons and giants, vanquishing monsters, and solving mysteries. Turns out that they are both right . . . though not quite in the way they imagined. When Lavender, tired of waiting around and arguing with Eliza, sets out to find her own prince, she instead runs into the evil count Mordmont (who is most definitely NOT a handsome prince in disguise) and it's up to Eliza to ride to the rescue on their faithful goat, Gertrude!

This funny fairy-tale adventure from debut author Sarah Courtauld sends two sisters on very different quests to battle dragons and trick villains.

Select format:
Paperback
$14.99

Find books about:

School Library Journal

Gr 3-5-This cross between a fractured fairy tale and any of Roald Dahl's zany adventures is the first installment in the "Buckle and Squash" series. The story centers on two sisters: level-headed Eliza and Lavender, a dreamer. They live with Grandma Maud; their parents died in an accident at a village festival and their Grandpa Joe went missing, both events having taken place before the start of the story. The girls live on a farm in the Middle of Nowhere and while Eliza toils away at their farm chores, Lavender reads fairytales and dreams of princes as she perfects her princess personality. One day, Lavender runs away in hopes of being rescued by a prince and sets off an adventure in which she is captured by a bankrupt bad guy and Eliza must rescue her sister given only a goat named Gertrude for a steed and a hat and a beard as magical tools for saving the day. This humorous tale is funny right down to the sentence level narration ("The next morning was bright and lovely. The birds sang. Dawn rose. Then she went back to bed. Luckily Dawn isn't part of this story. She didn't really get up to much."). Witty writing combined with a cast of characters that are as ridiculous as they are memorable-rendered in black-and-white drawings throughout-makes for a great series opener. VERDICT A fun read for chapter book and younger middle grade readers.-Samantha Lumetta, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH (c)

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

Absurdity reigns in Courtauld's (On a Pirate Ship) boisterous, logic-warping fantasy, starring sisters Eliza and Lavender, who hail from a "village in the middle of nowhere, which was called the Middle of Nowhere." While Eliza wants to battle dragons, fairy tale-obsessed Lavender aspires to marry a prince; in one of the book's many hilarious moments, Courtauld offers scraggly pencil portraits of some of Lavender's favorite royal dreamboats, including Prince Chlknklkgkfj the Unpronounceable and Prince Kanye the Anachronistic. Lavender's quest to find her groom triggers a series of madcap incidents involving Mordmont, a villain scheming to kidnap and ransom a princess in order to pay his bills; when Mordmont's bumbling minions mistake Lavender for a royal and deliver her to him, she in turn mistakes Mordmont for a prince turned beast, à la Beauty and the Beast. In the course of rescuing her sister, Eliza does in fact best a dragon (of sorts), and Lavender finds a prince (of sorts). Abundant wordplay, sarcastic footnotes, and a slew of out-of-left-field jokes make this book ideal for fans of Dav Pilkey, Andy Griffiths, or Lois Lowry's The Willoughbys. Ages 7-10. 

Copyright 2015 Publisher’s Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

ALA/Booklist

This mixed-up fairy tale has everything readers could want, including adventure, danger, and a cantankerous goat....Just right for readers who like their princess stories with a large dose of humor.

Review quotes

"This gleefully absurd British import packs both witty wordplay and potty humor.... Fans of Captain Underpants may find that fairy-tale send-ups can be just as giggle-inducing as superhero satire." —BCCB

Sarah Courtauld
Sarah Courtauld, the author of the BUCKLE AND SQUASH series, is a fresh and funny new voice in children's fiction. She won the Funny Women Comedy Writing Award in 2012 and the BAFTA/Rocliffe New Writing Forum 2012, judged by a panel including Jennifer Saunders and Chris Addison. She also does stand-up and improv, as well as working part-time as a writer for Usborne Children's Books.
Classification
-
ISBN-13
9781250052780
Lexile Measure
670
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Square Fish
Publication date
May 17, 2016
Series
Buckle and Squash
BISAC categories
JUV019000 - Juvenile Fiction | Humorous Stories
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
Library of Congress categories
Humorous stories
Fiction
Adventure and adventurers
Dragons
Sisters
Fantasy
Princesses
Juvenile works
Good and evil

Subscribe to our delicious e-newsletter!