Enchanted Stables

What's better than princesses AND horses? Nothing if you have a daughter like mine. She loves both, so naturally a book with both is a huge hit! The stories are simple and ceative and the illustrations are vibrant and colorful . Your little girl will want you to read the stories over and over again. Good for little ones 4+.

This book combines two things that most little girls love -- horses and Disney princesses -- in a single, three-story volume suitable for kids of various ages. The book is nicely-illustrated. Nearly every spread features an illustration covering two full pages, with text on top of the illustrations. There is a fair amount of text, maybe 8 lines on each page -- more dense than most preschool and Pre-K books. Though not too challenging, this is isn't a book for beginning readers. It's suitable for reading to a 4-5 year old, but written more at the second grade level. The book contains three stories -- In the first, Cinderella works with her old horse, Frou, to win a royal horse show. In the second, Snow White relies on clever horse Astor (as well as the dwarves and their stocky little ponies) to find her prince waiting deep in the woods. In the third story, Belle tries help to her despondent horse, Philippe, overcome his depression. After fruitless bubble baths, musical concerts, and other activities, Belle takes Philippe on a long ride into a field filled with other horses -- where Philippe finds true love, that special horse with whom he can share a stable, happily ever after. (My favorite illustration in the whole book -- Belle in the library, poring over a stack of books with titles such as "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Ponies", "Horses Who Love Oats Too Much", and "Carrot Soup for the Horse's Soul.") The stories are a little hokey -- these are Disney princesses, after all. They wear long, flowing gowns while riding their steeds. They are preternaturally cheerful and optimistic and helpful and kind. Each has a handsome, uniformed prince waiting in the wings. Cindererella's horse gets a self-esteem boost from a pair of glass horseshoes -- a gift of the fairy godmother. Belle's horse finds true horse love. Despite the hokiness, the underlying messages are redeeming -- about self-esteem, empathy, helping and encouraging others -- and the book is sure to delight the little girl in your life.

I really liked Belle's story. It had a proper story structure and wasn't silly or boring (like some of the other newer 'Princess' books). I also loved the artwork - very detailed. One amusing thought ....If Belle's now a Princess (after marrying the Beast/Prince), why is she still wearing her blue/white 'village girl' dress in the castle?! Especially when the Prince is decked out in his fancy blue/gold ballroom suit! :)

My daughters, ages 4 and 2, love horses and especially love princesses. I have a hard time finding new princess stuff that we don't already have or that is worth it. We found this book once at a store just before Christmas. My daughter wanted it but I decided to wait until she wasn't with me to buy it. I went back the next day and they were sold out. I was disappointed since my daughter wanted the book and it was so cute. Luckily I found it here and it was a great price. The book has three stories. The Belle story actually shows the characters after they are human again and refer back to who they were originally. This story actually includes the beast as a human. Very cute story. The Cinderella story talks about self esteem and by putting on special shoes it helps the horse preform at a champion level instead of being shy and clumsy. Excellent addition for any princess lover.

I usually pick up Disney books based more on artwork than anything else. I'm an adult fan and while items like this are obviously marketed to children and parents I do miss that universally appealing magic Disney used to have. Now a days the Princess world is a landslide of pink merchandise that has little or nothing to do with the original movie, or if it does it's a rehash of the movie with the same crappy clip art Disney has been reprinting for the last 10-16 years. IE: Nothing that is truly new or entertaining. Beauty and the Beast fans usually run into the "Beast Bad, Belle Sad" plot line. With the way the original movie was written Disney creative staff doesn't really have much to work with outside the scope of the original film. The result is usually boring or just ridiculous. This book is a clever and refreshing twist on the Princess story book/Beauty and the Beast relationship. The story and artwork is completely new and the artwork is FANTASTIC. Disney has finally given up on figuring out how to squeeze the Beast into the story and made way for an all-human staff and a human Prince. The result was a very nice story that everyone can enjoy. In the Princess line the Princess is of course the star so little girls will still get what they came for, their favorite princess, big pretty dresses, and maybe a little romance. Adult fans will find the continuity and new material refreshing. Each of the three stories were drawn to match the original styles of the movie. This book really reminds me of what Disney used to be and what fans used to expect from them. I would highly recommend it to any fan or parent! Also I'd recommend Disney Princess: More 5-Minute Princess Stories (Disney Princess) for all the same reasons. Great art, new stories! Keep them coming Disney!