Library Intern Book Reviews
Review of Princess Hyacinth (The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated) by Florence Parry Heide
Publisher
Schwartz & Wade Books
City
New York, New York, United States of America
Date of Publication
2009
ISBN
9780375845017
Date of Review
2012
Disciplines
Library and Information Science | Modern Literature
Keywords
Children's literature, reviews
Recommended Citation
Snyder, Amanda, "Review of Princess Hyacinth (The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated) by Florence Parry Heide" (2012). Library Intern Book Reviews. 50.
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/intern_book_reviews/50
Review
Princess Hyacinth told the story of a young princess who had a very unique problem: she floated. Every day, Princess Hyacinth had to wear weighted clothes and a heavily jeweled crown. With all of the weights, the princess’ floating problem was solved. Princess Hyacinth could never play with the other children outside because she was too weighted down, and without the weights she would float away. Her only friend was a little boy who could fly his kite higher than any of the other children. One day the princess went out with her weighted clothes and came across a balloon man. She decided to take off her princess clothes, tie her foot to a string, and float along with the balloons as the balloon man held onto her string. Unfortunately, he let go of her string and Princess Hyacinth floated away. The rest of the story tells how Princess Hyacinth was rescued and how everything changed around the palace after her experience.
The story of Princess Hyacinth is an entertaining story for young children because it captures children’s imaginations. It creatively resolved the plot while staying within a child’s attention span. The illustrations were well done and created empathy in the reader for Princess Hyacinth. The author utilized shaped text while telling the story to aid the illustrations and maintain children’s attention. Princess Hyacinth would be read to young children because the story was simple, imaginative, interesting, and relatable. Optional Purchase. Amanda Snyder. Centennial Library Intern.