After spending all that hard-earned dosh on royal knickknacks, why not read some royal baby books? You can always save the money, by borrowing them from the library!Alexandra the Royal Baby Fairy by Daisy Meadows
Hot on the heels of topical bestseller Kate the Royal Wedding Fairy, 'Rainbow Magic' is back. Fairyland is so excited about the coming of the new royal baby, but when it goes missing, Alexandra recruits loyal fairy friends Rachel and Kirsty to help find the vanished tot. Hmmm, I wouldn't be 100% surprised if that pesky Jack Frost has something to do with it.
Now, for (in my opinion) two rather more charming royal baby books...
Baggy Brown and the Royal Baby by Mick Inkpen
Mick Inkpen, the creator of Wibbly Pig and Kipper, and the illustrator of Percy the Park Keeper, is practically picture book royalty himself, and any story by him is him is a sure joy. This one was actually originally released five years ago, simply as Baggy Brown, but has been cunningly repackaged to fit with the birth of Prince George. It features the teddy Baggy Brown, who is born at Better Bears Ltd as the ultra-special edition teddy Number One, who is to be presented to Princess Sophie, the new Royal Baby of Thingland. But due to a mistake, a factory worker gives it to his son Alfie. When Alfie discovers the Number One bear has gone missing, he knows he has to return it - whatever it takes.
It's a fun, sweet novel that, in a turn of events, has Princess Sophie marry Alfie years later. Sophie - who is in fact a toddler for the bulk of this novel - is not the royal baby on the front cover. That's their son Jack. With that in mind, it has been slightly shoehorned in to fit the occasion, but it's still a warm, comfy fit.
The Royal Nappy by Nicholas Allan
In The Queen's Knickers, we learnt that the Queen has knickers for all sorts of occasions. If she has an important meeting, she'll have knickers to match. If her plane crashes, she's got the knickers to deal with it! The Royal Nappy (by the author of previously reviewed Heaven) is a sequel of sorts to The Queen's Knickers. Here, we discover all the different nappies that royal babies need, with the right flags for meeting heads of state, or super-slippery ones for skidding about Buckingham Palace when seeing his Great-Grandmother. We also learn that royal nappies are produced at the Royal Mint - and that sometimes, that can cause problems!
Unlike Baggy Brown's kingdom of Thingland, The Royal Nappy makes no attempt to hide the fact that this is Britain, and our royal family. The baby's father even looks like William! This is bonkers, laugh-out-loud funny, and as with The Queen's Knickers, it's one that's sure to make children laugh for a good many years to come. Of the royal baby books, this is my favourite, I think. I liked seeing the First World War royal baby in a pram-tank.
I haven't read any others, but The Royal Baby, by the Two Tonys (I mean, Tony Bradman and Little Princess creator, Tony Ross) is bound to be good. And Shhh! Don't Wake the Royal Baby! by Martha Mumford and Ada Grey looks fun too.
Is that enough royal baby books? It's not? Fine, have Ruby and the Royal Baby, from the Princess Katie's Kittens series, and have done with it!
WHY did I not know about the Princess Katie's Kittens series??? Sounds right up my street.
ReplyDelete