The Prince Who Was a Piccolo – Book Review

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Written by Barbara Roman

Illustrated by Vladimir Cebu

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BJYD1KYF
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (Oct. 24 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 32 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8359896238

About the Book:

When his father, the King, demands that the Prince be a “Royal Trumpet”, the unhappy boy brings doom and gloom to the kingdom until a mystical maiden guides him to finding his own unique music.

Barbara Roman’s ‘The Prince Who Was A Piccolo’ teaches children about self-esteem, asserting independence, attitudes, and being comfortable with their own identity. They will also learn about different musical instruments and the influence of music on our lives and emotions. There are mystical qualities in the story as it metaphorically touches on meditation, intuition, and spiritual guidance.

Beautifully illustrated by Vladimir Cebu, this book is a rich learning experience for children, as they learn about music instruments, and ways to express their emotions.

What I Thought: 

The Prince Who Was a Piccolo is a wonderful story with the subtle underlying moral value for children to believe in themself and strive for their own talents in life, whatever those talents may be.  I fell in love with the prince and his brave attitude to not give up searching for his own musical talent, even though his musical talent may not please his father the king. The story is so well written that I believe this book will become a classic in children’s literature. The artwork is fantastic. This story is one of the most creative stories I’ve read in children’s literature in several years. Kudos to the author!

About the Author:

As Barbara Roman, I am the author of the children’s books, “Alicia and the Light Bulb People in Star Factory 13” and “Hubert in Heaven – a hi-tech angel gets his wings.”

Find Barbara Roman’s children’s books here. 

Sir Princess Petra’s Talent wins a 2019 Book Excellence Award

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Sir Princess Petra has already proven she is a kind and noble knight. This, however, does not please the king and queen—they want her to behave like a princess and forget this silly knight nonsense of hers! 

But when the king writes a new rule in the royal rule book that requires her to attend Talent School and acquire a princess talent certificate or suffer the spell of the royal magician, Petra, reluctantly, agrees to go. But who could have guessed what Sir Princess Petra’s Talent would be?

Book Awards for Sir Princess Petra’s Talent

2014 – Readers’ Favorite Book Awards, Bronze Medal Winner, Grade 4th- 6th.

2015 – Purple Dragonfly Book Awards, Honorable Mention, Chapter Books.

2015 – Children’s Literary Classics Book Awards, Silver Medal, Chapter Books.

2015 – Los Angeles Book Festival, Honorable Mention.

2019 –Book Excellence Awards, Winner, Friendship Books.

The Pen Pieyu Adventures

Read more about the author and her dragon books for children here.

10 Captivating Fantasy Books For Young Readers


By  Hgiardina & Ezvid Wiki EditorialThu, 14 Mar 2019 https://wiki.ezvid.com/m/10-captivating-fantasy-books-for-young-readers-J7iRlnKs8VQYg

TitleAuthor
1.Charis: Journey to Pandora’s JarNicole Y. Walters
2.Sir Princess PetraDiane Mae Robinson
3.The Hob and the DeermanPat Walsh
4.Fog IslandTomi Ungerer
5.There May Be a CastlePiers Torday
6.Mabel Gray and the Wizard Who Swallowed the SunClayton Smith
7.DreamwoodHeather Mackey
8.The Secret Life of Daisy FitzjohnTania Unsworth
9.Bad MagicPseudonymous Bosch
10.The Mad Wolf’s DaughterDiane Magras

Fun Activities For Young Fantasy Fans

How to Encourage Kids to Read

A great way to start is to get a bookshelf for your child’s room. If they have access to their own collection of books, it’ll be easy for them to read at their own pace. And if they’re looking at the shelf everyday, reading will always be on their mind. It’s also important to give your kids a comfortable place to sit. This can be anything from a rocking chair to a couch to a dedicated reading nook. If they have a space that’s just for them, it makes reading time all the more special. As they grow, your young ones will start to read more challenging books with words they don’t know. Encourage them to look up unfamiliar terms in the dictionary so they can expand their vocabulary. Finally, if you’re having trouble getting your kid interested in books in the first place, try bridging the gap between visual media and literature with graphic novels.

What is Fantasy?

No genre can capture the imagination quite like fantasy, where readers are invited to envision impossible worlds, daring heroes, and strange creatures living in the land of myth and legend. There’s a reason why so many speculative stories spellbind young readers with their tales of misfits, outcasts, and kids with untapped stores of tremendous bravery.

For young readers on the lookout for adventure, here, in no particular order, are some stunningly imaginative books that will bring out the magic in everyday life.

In the #1 spot is “Charis: Journey to Pandora’s Jar” by Nicole Y. Walters. Charis has been waiting all her life for a chance to show her stuff. Now, it’s up to the hyper-imaginative thirteen-year-old to save the world by visiting Pandora’s Jar, the place where demons and kind spirits dwell. The catch? She’s only got five days to release the spirit of Hope from the jar before mankind is officially doomed forever. With the help of a few trusty deities and her best friend Gabe, Charis has to summon up all her courage to set things right.

At #2, we have Diane Mae Robinson’s “Sir Princess Petra.” Even Princesses get bored of being pampered sometimes. In this series, nine-year-old Petra decides that she wants to become a knight. But even though she’s got courage and cunning to spare, knighthood comes with its own set of pressures and obstacles, like having to silence a dragon and visit the spooky Forest of Doom. If she can overcome a few kooky quests, she’ll find her true place in the kingdom.

At #3 is “The Hob and the Deerman” by Pat Walsh. Crowfield Abbey is a peculiar place. It’s a portal, of sorts, between the world we know and the Otherworld, a place where demons, boggarts, and all kinds of creatures freely roam. When Walter, a “hob” spirit, returns to find everything in disarray, he knows he needs to take action to help put all the troubled spirits in the abbey to rest. But it will take a lot of help, and a lot of courage, to cross paths with the Deerman of the forest and live to tell the tale.

At #4 is Tomi Ungerer’s “Fog Island.” No one ever returns from Fog Island. It’s a place shrouded in mystery, a place that Finn and Cara have been warned against visiting. But when the two siblings disobey their father and head for the far-off island, they’re in for more than they bargained for. Is the ancient place just a pile of ruins? Or is there a deeper mystery lurking, something that only the mercurial Fog Man can unlock?

For #5 we have “There May Be a Castle” by Piers Torday. Eleven-year-old Mouse knows he shouldn’t have survived the car crash when he was thrown from the vehicle during a Christmas Eve drive to his grandparents’ house. He woke totally fine, but in a world he barely recognized. With the help of a magical sheep and a sardonic talking horse, he’ll need to find his way to the castle if he wants to regain entry to his own life. That is, if this place everyone speaks of is more than the stuff of legend.

Coming in at #6 is Clayton Smith’s “Mabel Gray and the Wizard Who Swallowed the Sun.” The people of Brightsbane have had a rough time ever since the eternal night started. After a wizard took away the daytime from the land, he decided he needed to come back to steal a book of magic spells that holds the key to the township’s total destruction. Luckily, a spirited orphan named Mabel is going to set things right.

If she can summon up the courage to deal with a series of fantastical creatures and hair-raising quests, she might find a way to break her hometown’s terrible curse forever.

At #7 is Heather Mackey’s “Dreamwood.” Runaway Lucy has a fair amount of experience with supernatural forces. Her father is an expert on the subject, and she’s on a quest to find him and bring him back so she doesn’t have to go to that dreadful boarding school anymore. The problem is, her father isn’t where she thought he’d be. Could it be that the enchanted forest of Dreamwood proved too powerful a match for him? There’s only one way to find out: by heading into the heart of the living grove, no matter the consequences.

Coming in at #8 is “The Secret Life of Daisy Fitzjohn” by Tania Unsworth. Some might call Daisy’s life unusual: her best friends are a talking rat and a ghost, and she lives in an old estate that’s slowly falling apart. When her mother leaves on a strange expedition and doesn’t return, Daisy knows she can’t hide within the walls of Brightwood Hall any longer. She’ll have to do what it takes to save her home and keep her family together, with only the help of her eclectic sidekicks to guide her.

At #9 we find Pseudonymous Bosch’s “Bad Magic.” Clay knows there’s no such thing as magic. He’s seen a million sleight-of-hand shows and he knows they’re just tricks. That said, there are a few things happening at Earth Ranch that he can’t explain. Clay was supposed to be sent to the rehabilitation camp to be “scared straight.” But there’s more at work here than a few obstacle courses and hikes. For one thing, he’s having conversations with llamas.

For another, he may or may not have just seen a ghost. If there’s magic on Earth Ranch, Clay needs to make sure it’s not the deadly kind. If he can make it off the volcanic island without causing an explosion, he’ll count himself lucky.

Finally, at #10, is “The Mad Wolf’s Daughter” by Diane Magras. When Drest’s family of male warriors is taken captive, she finds herself in a unique position. All her life, her father and brothers took care of her. Now, she’s got to free her kin with the help of a witch, a soft-spoken knight, and her own fierce courage. With a mysterious bandit out to get her and her sense of independence growing by the day, Drest will find herself taking chances, slaying personal demons, and doing things she never dreamed herself capable of.

https://wiki.ezvid.com/m/10-captivating-fantasy-books-for-young-readers-J7iRlnKs8VQYg

Midwest Book Review on Sir Princess Petra’s Talent

Sir Princess Petra’s Talent: Book Two in The Pen Pieyu Adventures      

Sir Princess Petra's Talent - The Pen Pieyu Adventures

Diane Mae Robinson, author
Samantha Kickingbird, illustrator
Tate Publishing
127 E. Trade Center, Mustang, OK 73064
www.tatepublishing.com
9781625106827, $9.99, www.amazon.com


“Sir Princess Petra’s Talent” is the second book in the Pen Pieyu Adventures, a fantasy chapter book series for middle grade readers age 9-10 and up. Appealing to both juvenile and older audiences, “Sir Princess Petra’s Talent” continues a theme of discovering one’s true gifts and identity unclouded by hampering gender or other stereotypes’ influences. Sir Princess Petra has already demonstrated her worthiness to be a knight by quieting and befriending the dragon Snarls. However now she must attend Talent School and earn a princess talent certificate to please her parents, who wish she would forget being a knight and behave like a normal princess. Thus begins the voyage of discovery in this second volume of a very funny, creative series. Humor is the secret weapon, unexpected and delightful, that succeeds in enthralling young readers or dragons alike. Brief, action-packed chapters and charming black and white illustrations tell this incredible story of a princess whose secret talent is (surprise!) Storytelling? Who would suspect such an incredible, wildly unlikely thing? Sorry for the spoiler, but readers will find the framing of the story just as surprising as its ending, as all pages vibrate with a freshness of vision that is also hauntingly familiar and believable. “Sir Princess Petra’s Talent” will lead all kinds of readers through tangles of wildwood and torrents of intrigue to arrive at an unexpected place in the heart.

Book one and two of this fantasy kids books series available in paperback and e-book on all major book seller sites. Autographed hard covers available from the author at: robinsond@mcsnet.ca For more information about Diane’s dragon books for children: www.dragonbooks.com

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