Laura Amy Schlitz is the author of the Newbery Medal winner
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village, the
Newbery Honor Book and New York Times bestseller Splendors and
Glooms, the Scott O'Dell Award winner and New York Times bestseller
The Hired Girl, the sumptuously illustrated chapter book The Night
Fairy, and other critically acclaimed books for young readers. A
teacher as well as a writer, Laura Amy Schlitz lives in
Maryland.
Brian Floca is the author-illustrator of the Caldecott Medal
winner Locomotive, the Robert F. Sibert Honor books Moonshot and
Lightship, and other picture books, and is the illustrator of many
more books for young readers. Brian Floca lives and works in
Brooklyn.
The Newbery medalist (for “Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!”) Laura Amy
Schlitz’s witty writing matches perfectly with the energetic
watercolors by Brian Floca, who won the Caldecott Medal for
“Locomotive.” I dare you not to laugh at the pink-frocked reptile
desperately trying to jump rope.
—The New York Times Book Review
An accomplished storyteller who knows her audience, Schlitz offers
an original tale that seamlessly combines reality, magic, and wit.
Floca’s expressive pencil, watercolor, and gouache artwork
perfectly captures the characters...this early chapter book is
beautifully designed for newly independent readers. For younger
children, it’s a memorable choice for reading aloud in the home or
classroom. Either way, it’s great fun.
—Booklist (starred review)
Legions of schoolchildren will empathize with overscheduled
Princess Cora...In illustrations that amplify Schlitz’s wry humor,
Caldecott Medalist Floca (Locomotive) produces a reptile that
delightfully runs amuck. A mop wig and frilly dress let princess
and croc to swap places, allowing Cora much-needed freedom while
the crocodile trades insults with the Queen (“Reptile!” “Mammal!”)
and gnaws on the fitness-obsessed King (just a little). Utterly
charming from start to finish.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Schlitz’s narrative is incredibly entertaining, with chapters that
alternate between chaos at the castle and Cora’s meandering day in
the woods and pastures. Featuring Floca’s hysterical full-color
artwork, the book is laugh-out-loud funny...The fable is
reminiscent of the finest adult-comeuppance collaborations of Roald
Dahl and Quentin Blake, with the added bonus that the princess
learns to speak up for herself and the grown-ups learn to
listen.
—School Library Journal (starred review)
Seven spry chapters detail Cora’s much-needed day off and the
crocodile’s humorous attempts to impersonate her. Copious ink,
watercolor, and gouache illustrations are both delicate in their
sensibility (the way princesses often are in classic tales) and
witty in their execution (i.e., the crocodile is very poorly
disguised).
—Horn Book
The crocodile's antics are juxtaposed against Cora's pastoral day
and enhanced by Floca's ink, watercolor, and gouache illustrations,
which superbly amplify the story's emotional arc. All ends
happily...A clever tale packed with wry wit and charming
illustrations.
—Kirkus Reviews
Floca’s crocodile achieves sly, good-natured ferocity tempered by
the delicacy of the ink, watercolor and gouache illustrations, and
the humans are just as serious and glum as they should be until
Cora asserts her independence. Although divided into chapters, this
standout original fairy tale can be devoured in one sitting, making
it an excellent overall choice for early readers or a family
readaloud.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Readers ages 5-10 will cheer when, with the grown-ups humbled, Cora
stands up for herself at last and insists on fewer baths, better
books, jollier exercise—and, in place of the crocodile, a dog of
her own.
—The Wall Street Journal
Hilarious art in Victorian Era style shows the crocodile
cross-dress as Cora, carry on in her place (she’s off to play in
the dirt) and shake up the parents, all for an important point:
Princess or not, it’s worth the struggle to be yourself and make
your own choices.
—San Francisco Chronicle
A Newbery Medalist (“Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!”) and a Caldecott
Medalist (“Locomotive”) team up for a very entertaining feminist
fairy tale of a princess who rebels against her overbearing parents
in rather novel ways.
—Buffalo News
Readers will find it hard to not love this inappropriate crocodile
and his Princess owner.
—School Library Connection
Timely and incisive, this one's a keeper.
—BookPage
The Dahl-esque story has a classic feel, and Floca's art blends wit
and beauty. A perfect read-aloud — though adults will need a sense
of humor.
—Plain Dealer
Whether you’re a Cora or a crocodile or a little bit of both,
you’re bound to stand in wonder when you see what Schlitz and Floca
have come up with together.
—A Fuse #8 Production (blog)
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