The Princess and the Pit Stop

by Tom Angleberger (Author) Dan Santat (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

Once upon a time there was a Princess . . who made a pit stop.

While the Birds and Beasts changed her tires, her Fairy Godmother told her she was in last place! With just one lap left! She might as well give up! Give up? Not THIS princess! Instead, she hit the gas!

Join Her Royal Highness in the driver's seat for a mad dash to the finish in this exciting ode to auto racing. With appearances by fairy tale favorites including the Tortoise and the Hare, the Frog Prince, and ALL of the Wicked Witches, this rollicking mash-up of race cars and royalty is a true celebration of both girl power and horsepower.

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Hardcover
$16.99

ALA/Booklist

Starred Review
Best-selling Angelberger and Caledecott-winner Santat are proven successes, and this high-energy, girl-powered tale will zoom right off shelves.

School Library Journal

Gr 1-3--Out of the way, Danica Patrick! Princess is coming through! Bombed with bad pit stop news--she's in last place with a mere lap to go--this gutsy gal puts the pedal to the metal, burning rubber, and peeling past a pack of familiar rivals. She catches the Gingerbread Man, "made the Seven Dwarfs grumpy," "beat Jack and Jill down the hill," and just plain "smokes the Three Little Pigs!" Angleberger's nitro-fueled terse text is announced by a goggle-eyed frog called Prince and all is ratcheted up by Santat's brilliant, turbo-charged signature illustrations. The culmination is a whirl of track-donuts and a victory ball. A fun rip for those who have enjoyed Caldecott-winner Santat's illustrations in books like Corey Rosen Schwartz's Ninja Red Riding Hood and Angleberger's "Inspector Flytrap" series. VERDICT Rev those engines and buckle that seat belt--readers are in for a bumpy ride. A high-octane storytime selection.--Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

Yes, the princess drives a race car, and why not? This sizzling readaloud starts as the Fairy Godmother tells the Princess that she's in last place with one lap to go. "She might as well give up!" the narrator threatens. But when readers get a look at the expression of grim determination behind the princess's goggles, they'll know all is not lost. As she roars off, a frog with a shiny suit and a shinier microphone provides a breathless account of her progress: "She passed Humpty Dumpty! She passed all the King's Horses! She passed all the King's Men!" Practically every major nursery rhyme character makes a cameo appearance: "She blew the doors off the Big Bad Wolf and smoked the Three Little Pigs." Rocket-fueled panel artwork by Santat (After the Fall) gleams like carbon fiber. His rendering of Angleberger's (the Origami Yoda series) inspired injection of sports-network energy into fairyland produces a shot of gleeful adrenaline whose only fault, like the best of things, is that it's over too soon. Ages 5-7. Author's agent: Caryn Wiseman, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Illustrator's agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House. (July)

Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes



Tom Angleberger
Rose Brock is a professor and educator at Sam Houston State University who has dedicated her career to turning young people into book lovers. Building relationships with readers through books is her superpower. In addition to her career as a librarian and educator, Dr. Brock is the cofounder of NTTBF, the North Texas Teen Book Festival, the largest library run book festival for young people in the country. Dr. Brock was awarded the Siddie Joe Johnson Award for Outstanding Service to Youth by the Texas Library Association. She is the editor of Hope Nation: Young Adult Authors Share Personal Moments of Inspiration and author of Young Adult Literature in Action: A Librarian's Guide. Visit her online at drrosebrock.com.

Follow her on Twitter @reallyrosebrock.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781419728488
Lexile Measure
630
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Harry N. Abrams
Publication date
July 10, 2018
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV019000 - Juvenile Fiction | Humorous Stories
JUV041030 - Juvenile Fiction | Transportation | Cars & Trucks
JUV034000 - Juvenile Fiction | Royalty (kings queens princes princesses knights etc.)
JUV012040 - Juvenile Fiction | Fairy Tales & Folklore | Adaptations
JUV032000 - Juvenile Fiction | Sports & Recreation | General
Library of Congress categories
Characters in literature
Characters and characteristics in literature
Princesses
Automobile racing
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
2018

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