The Starlight Princess

the starlight princess combines magical embroideredpictures with extremely well adapted tales- mostly well-known stories, but with the odd variation which makesthem more suited to modern readers. For example, in' the princess and the pea ', the prince doesn't just marrythe princess, he finds out first whether she likes him too.My five-year-old and I are thoroughly enjoying it -great to read aloud.

As a young child, one of my teachers taught us the basics of embroidery. I still have the tiny apron I made as a child and ended up framing it because I wanted to keep it safe. You will want to read this book and then keep it in a safe place too! In "The Starlight Princess" the story is illustrated completely with embroidery. Belinda Downes is a world-renowned embroidery artist and you will want to also find "A Stitch in Rhyme" and "Every Little Angel's Handbook." She has always loved history and costume design and was very excited to illustrate this book and uses luxuriant fabrics and different threads and stitches. This is not cross stitch! The pages look like calico fabric. To say I am impressed with this book is an understatement. I am fascinated with the embroidery, all the delicate details woven through the pages, framing the story with exquisite detail. As a little girl I dreamed of being a princess. One time, I had my brother help me put two mattresses up on my bed and we put a pea under the bed to see if I could feel it. Since I couldn't, we declared that I must be a princess indeed. lol Well, that story is actually in this collection of eight fairy tales and is the first story. The Frog Princess, King Grizzlebeard, The Starlight Princess, The Sleeping Beauty, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, The Egg Prince and White-Bear-King Valemon are included in this collection. Annie Dalton's storytelling brings meaning to the embroidery. She also brings such humor to some of the stories. "There was once a princess so beautiful that any prince who saw her portrait instantly became desperate to marry her. Unfortunately, as soon as they actually met her these princes quickly changed their minds." The story of the Egg Prince was completely new to me and is about Princess Lebou who can run faster than any warrior. She lives in Africa and helps to break a spell and release the prince from the egg. But as Annie says: "But in case things don't work out, she sensibly hangs on to those egg shells." I highly recommend this work of art! Simply one of the most beautiful books you will ever see if you love embroidery. A review cannot do this book justice. You must see it to believe it! This deserves at least 100 Stars! ~The Rebecca Review

I bought this book for my 5 yr old. She loved the stories as much as the lovely pictures. We have read it many times over. I recommend this as a gift for it is a good collection of stories along with beautiful pictures. It has a beautiful tapestry of stories, highlighted by the many wonderful embroidered images on the page. The pages reflect the linen fabic and add to the stories richness. The stories themselves are a terrific grouping of multicultural tales. Each with a vivid depiction of it's princess heroine. I loved the descriptive stories of many countries and yet they were in many ways noncultural in that princesses are by nature fairly universal the world around. If you wonder if it's as pretty on the inside as the jacket - it is!