Book Review: The Unruly Queen by E.S. Redmond

The Unruly Queen by E.S. Redmond
Published by Candlewick Press
Pages: 32
Ages: 3 and up
Buy It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Powell’s Books | Indiebound | Book Depository
Publishers Summary:

“But what sort of queen lives with beasts in a cave?”
“The sort,” Nanny answered, “who never behaves.”

Minerva rules her household with shrieks and commands, demanding candy for dinner and refusing to entertain any discussion of bedtime. Indeed, fifty-two nannies have run screaming from the house. But when the elegant and bespectacled fifty-third nanny, undaunted by Minerva’s tirades, appears on the scene to crown her young charge “the Unruly Queen,” tutu-clad Minerva is thrilled – until she hears the details of the position. E. S. Redmond’s brisk, bouncy rhymes and vibrant, delightfully detailed artwork portray Minerva’s unyielding awfulness and Nanny’s unshakable calm with comedic flair, prompting even the most unmanageable youngsters to be careful what they wish for.
Fifty-two nannies in fifty-two weeks – and Minerva von Vyle is still impossible! Can anyone tame this spoiled, wild child?

Littlebug Gets Pushy: This girl gets everything I think would be super neat! Toys, parties, clothes and candy for dinner! Well, the candy thing doesn’t sound so good…I really like fruit more. Why does she always yell? That place the new nanny wants to take her sounds really scary so I know why she thinks it’s good to be good. I wouldn’t ever want to go there! And by the end she is a nice girl again so hopefully she won’t have to go to the scary castle and be the Queen later. Yikes!

Mom’s Two Cents: Once there was a little girl who’s temper and demands were greater than that of any other little girls anywhere in all the world. Minerva was spoiled rotten to the core and demanded more and more by the day. Only after a long string of nannies are destroyed by her tempestuous behavior does one finally come willing to take on the task of calming Minerva’s daily storm. With crown in tow the new nanny’s abilities to sway Minerva are put to the test, but in the end she may just make a princess out of the very unruly Queen.

The Unruly Queen by E.S. Redmond has been one of our favorite picture book reads this year. Not only is the story engaging for the kiddos, but the rhythm of the text simply begs to be read aloud making it fun for everyone involved. One of the best aspects of the story are the illustrations that accompany each and every page. It’s possible that within the first few pages a reader could potentially get tired of a character that stomps about and demands more of everything, but the pacing is so well done in The Unruly Queen and the illustrations are so gorgeous that you can’t help but want to continue to flip the pages one after another.

Minerva is quite easily a little girl anyone could know and her character simply leaps off the pages as you read her story making her seem very alive. What begins as her demanding everything from a pink pony to indelible ink for writing on the walls to candy for dinner quickly becomes the story of a little girl backpedaling into the girl she really should be. As her new nanny does a bit of reverse psychology on her with the threat of ruling a very undesirable kingdom Minerva realizes just how great she has things. Lets be honest, who doesn’t have a child or know of one that may need a bit of awakening to this very topic?

As Minerva wages a war on her home and the many attendees who attempt to meet her every whim a new nanny arrives to remind her of the very comforts she’s come to take for granted. In The Unruly Queen by E.S. Redmond, Minerva learns that her home is much better than ruling a kingdom of selfish sloppy monsters in a dark cave she may never leave and in the end decides she should perhaps change her selfish ways. Filled with gorgeous illustrations and text that begs to be read aloud The Unruly Queen is an absolute favorite of not only Littlebug, but everyone in the There’s A Book home and we’re eager to read more from the very talented E.S. Redmond.

The1stdaughter Recommends: Ages 3 to 10. Wonderful lessons to be learned, perfectly paced text for read alouds and gorgeous illustrations fill the pages of the newest from E.S. Redmond. An absolute favorite in our home!

Find The Unruly Queen by E.S. Redmond at the following spots:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Powell’s Books | Indiebound | Book Depository | Goodreads

Thank you so much to the publisher, Candlewick Press, for providing a copy of this book for review! Connect with them on Twitter, Google+ and on Facebook!
Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our various affiliate relationships.