Priscilla and the Splish-Splash Surprise

Priscilla and the Splish-Splash Surprise
Author: Nathaniel Hobbie
Illustrator: Jocelyn Hobbie
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0316010464
ISBN-13: 978-0316010467

Book Description
Here is a second clever read-aloud starring Priscilla, who is upset as rain comes down in buckets for days on end! When our intrepid heroine ventures outdoors to perform a rain-stopping dance, she meets Posy the Pixie, who shows her around the magical land of Primrose and teaches her to appreciate both rain and sunshine. Priscilla’s story is told in lyrical verse and young girls will enjoy reading her pixie land adventure aloud.

“On Priscilla's planet, which is not so far away, the sky is a purple, green-brownish gray hue today. The sky had not been blue for days. Then the raindrops began to fall and rain became the word of the day.”

Priscilla is back in another rhyming adventure! In Priscilla and the Splish-Splash Surprise, Priscilla is not having a good day. She hates the rain and wishes it would just go away. At the edge of the forest near her home, she meets Posy the Pixie and other characters in the forest. Posy teaches Priscilla about the wonders of rain. The illustrations are colorful and bright.

School Library Journal didn’t like this book for some strange reason but I loved it. My three year old granddaughter, who is very critical about what books she likes, loves the Priscilla books and especially this one. She too was not loving the rain since she couldn’t go to the park and after reading Priscilla and the Splish-Splash Surprise, she immediately wanted rain boots and to go out and hop through the puddles.

I always think it’s great when a book makes a child laugh out loud, when it captures them and makes them think. That to me is the gauge for a good children’s book. I loved the magical pixie world beyond the trees and the bugs and characters that live there. This is a perfect rainy day book for little girls.

About the author and illustrator:

Jocelyn and Nathaniel Hobbie are the talented son and daughter of New York Times bestselling author Holly Hobbie. Jocelyn is a painter and lives in New York City. Nathaniel works with glass and steel at his workshop in Massachusetts.

Priscilla and the Pink Planet

Priscilla and the Pink Planet
Author: Nathaniel Hobbie
Illustrator: Jocelyn Hobbie
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0316735795
ISBN-13: 978-0316735797

Priscilla lives on a planet where everything is pink. One day she gets so fed up with the color pink that she sets off to look for some other color, any other color. The story follows Priscilla on her quest to find a color other than dreary old pink. Priscilla finally sees a beautiful multicolored butterfly. She chases it only to find that the Queen of the pink planet has caught the butterfly in her pink net because she loves only pink and all other colors are forced to live underground.

Priscilla and the Pink Planet is a thoroughly engaging story told all in Seuss style rhyme. It’s a fun book to read aloud and has a bouncy, happy feel to it. Priscilla herself is quite the character; strong, determined and smart as a whip. She makes a good role model for little girls. I love that she doesn’t let things get her down or too discouraged. She presses onward looking for the thing she knows she needs.

The illustrations are great fun and highly detailed. I loved how the pink changes gradually and each page gets brighter and brighter with more and more colors. Priscilla herself is a cute, but not too cute little girl with a bright smile and intelligent eyes. She’s very animated and quite wonderful. She’d lend herself well to an animated movie or cartoon series. I think kids, especially little girls in the 3-8 age range will just adore her.

She has an adventurous spirit and a zest for life that’s completely addicting. It’s one of my granddaughter Jasmine’s favorite books – this one she actually sleeps with.