Surprise for a Princess

This a sweet little book that has the 3 good fairies pulling together a birthday party for Briar Rose/Aurora. Essentially, it is very close the same episode from the movie except without any hint of danger in the background. It's all cheerful and nice. Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather try to make a cake and a dress but they only end up making a mess. That is, until they whip out their wands and make everything right. Now, having said that, we come to the "Step into reading" part of the book. Level 2 is supposed to be for children in the Preschool to Grade 1 age range. It is defined as "For children who recognize familiar words and sound out new words with help". Well, in my opinion, they would need a whole lot of help. And the prime reason for this is that the book is written entirely in the past tense. My daughter (5), for example, can read simple primer materials: books such as the "Biscuit" series, or Margaret Hillert's primers. But she was entirely stymied by the use of past tense. Examples: She lived in the forest... While she was gone, they planned... Briar Rose was returning... (So that she could read live but not lived.) Four Stars. It's a nice book that I would buy again. The simple text makes it a good read-aloud that doesn't take much time. My only concern would be if you were thinking about using "Surprise for a Princess" as a primer. I would be afraid by the time they could read the text, that the story would be `beneath' their interest, i.e. their level of sophistication. More text follows so you can judge for yourself: "Let's have a party for Briar Rose," said Merryweather. "With a cake!" said Fauna. "And a dress fit for a princess," said Flora. Flora began to make the dress. She cut. She pinned. She trimmed. Merryweather tried to help. But the dress was a mess.