Princess Poppy: The Play

Janey-Louise Jones
Join Princess Poppy and her friends and family for another brilliant adventure in Honeypot Hill.
Poppy is putting on a play in her garden! But there’s so much to do – she will need tickets and costumes and actors and a story. Her best friend Honey is taking part, and so are her cousins Daisy and Edward. Everyone in the village will be there for the performance, so Poppy wants to make sure everything is just perfect. But when Poppy starts ordering everyone around, the others name her Princess Bossy Boots, and won’t help her any more. What should Poppy do to save the play?
My daughter has been borrowing a whole string of Princess Poppy books from her pre-school and we have been enjoying the adventures of this little girl as she learns some important life lessons. Poppy is not actually a ‘real’ princess, but has a Grandpa who tells her that every little girl can be a princess (if they behave like one!).In this story Poppy learns that she cannot always be in charge, or make everyone do what she wants. She needs to consider the views and feelings of others.
The messages in the stories are always clear and simple, but I don’t find them to be too preachy, and the stories are very realistic in looking at the ways children play together. As well as this one we have talked about being kind to your friends, having patience, coping with family illness and dealing with new babies. There are many more we haven’t read yet too.
There are lovely touches in the book that make it more fun for girls, a list of the characters in the story and their pictures comes at the beginning. Then there is a map of Poppy’s village, Honeypot Hill. It’s great to see where the characters live, how they might go to visit each other, or to school, the stables and so on. Even better at the start of each story there is an envelope with a little something inside, always related to the story. Tianna loves to discover ‘what is in there this time’!
These stories are very sweet. I think they manage to steer clear of being sickly by the fact that the topics they cover are true to life, and because Poppy (and the other characters) are not too sweet themselves. However if your daughter is a complete tomboy then these are probably a little girlie.
Verdict: Lovely books, I am tempted to add them to our home library as I think they will stand the test of time too, and possibly be useful when we need to deal with some of these issues ourselves.
Reviewed by Helen