The Very Little Princess (review)

During a surprise visit to a grandmother she previously never knew existed, Zoey is delighted to find a distraction from her mother and grandmother's bickering: a beautiful porcelain doll, who magically awakens after being touched with Zoey's falling tear. The doll, who likes to call herself Princess Regina, sees the situation differently; she's looking not for a playmate but rather a servant who can be at her beck and call and who will figure out a way to prevent her from falling back into an inanimate sleep. Meanwhile, the discussion between Zoey's mother and grandmother becomes more heated and her mother ends up taking off, leaving Zoey to fend for herself, a practice that the reader learns is all too common in their household. Readers attracted to the dazzling pink princess on the cover may be startled by this story's serious and ultimately bittersweet undertone. Nonetheless, it is a tale well told that effectively blends magic and reality, with a compassionate omniscient narrator offering both wisdom and humor throughout. The parallels between Regina's abandonment by her previous owners and Zoey's relationship with her mother are heartbreaking in their honesty; while Regina remains somewhat unlikable even at the end, readers will find themselves hoping against hope for Zoey's happiness. Young ones dealing with their own loss or abandonment issues will surely find comfort in this story that reassures readers that happy endings can be found, even in lives that aren't fairy-tale-perfect.