The Daring Prince Dashing
Written by Marilou T. Reeder
Illustrated by Karl West
Sky Pony Press    11/03/2015
978-1-63450-161-6
32 pages     Ages 3—6

“PRINCE DASHING IS DARING AND WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO FIND A NEW FRIEND!

“Prince Dashing bathes with crocodiles, eats while dangling upside down from the tallest trees, and toasts s’mores by dragon’s breath. The night of the royal ice cream social he meets a girl as adventurous as he is. But at the stroke of bedtime, the girl hurries off, leaving behind her mysterious stick. In his usual daring way, Dashing ventures out to search for the stick’s owner. He gallops by groups of thugs, tromps past toothy crocodiles, and eventually stumbles into the zoo. Will he ever find his friend?” [inside jacket]

The Story
Prince Dashing is an extreme sport kid before such sports became common in the 21st century. He is daring to a fault, and his parents get nervous watching his activities. If he could only be “normal,” well, he wouldn’t be the Daring Prince Dashing. This daring kid once catapulted over the Royal Gardens to ride Rover, his horse. This is the kid the entire kingdom watches in horror, but secretly admires. At the Royal Ice Cream Social a young girl enters the room,

“ZING-BOING! ZING-BOING! ZING-BOING!”

Prince Dashing is immediately intrigued. The girl hands him her mysterious stick, then leaps onto the tightrope, where she eats her ice cream sundae. The two daring kids enjoy the night, performing one daring feat after another. When bedtime rolls around, the girl takes off, forgetting her mysterious stick.

Prince Dashing vows to find the girl who “can make the right sound with this stick-thingy.” He sets off on his quest, blindfolded. He is the Daring Prince Dashing, is he not? Before the King and Queen can catch up to their son, he runs into a tree; traipses through the croc-infested marshes; nearly collides with a bird; and then enters the zoo, landing in a lion enclosure. All the while Prince Dashing calls out for his new friend.

“Oh stick girl! Stickerella!”

Review
The Daring Prince Dashing will leave young kids in stitches, as Prince Dashing gets himself into one close call after another. While the situations are serious (sloshing into a hippo’s mud bath and the cages of a zebra, kangaroo, and panda), the reactions of these dangerous animals is hilarious. Young children will love this silliness. Cinderella has never been so much fun. I love Cinderella, I mean Stickerella, leaving at the stroke of bedtime, making this picture book perfect for bedtime reading.

The illustrations are colorful and visually interesting, stimulating, and laugh-inducing. The use of onomatopoeia works well and the sounds are not only perfect for this stick, but also fun to read. I love all the detail in the spreads. The animals’ cartoon bodies remove any ferociousness the blindfolded Prince Dashing could have faced. The castle’s wallpaper was drawn by West’s fifteen-year-old daughter.

Stickerella cleans her home, but the wicked, child-labor law breaking stepmother and her two obnoxious daughters left this Cinderella alone. If not for the little bird—at first I thought it was an owl—taking a “FOUND Stick-thingy” poster to her, Stickerella and Prince Dashing may not have reunited. This Cinderella does not pine for her Prince Charming.

Fracture fairy tales, when they work, are terrific. The Daring Prince Dashing does not disappoint. Young children will like this Cinderella bedtime story, probably asking for it quite often. Parents will enjoy reading it as much as their child will love hearing it. The Daring Prince Dashing, a late 2015 release, may have bolted—this is the Daring Prince Dashing—onto Kid Lit Reviews a bit late, but this prince is (hint to Stickerella) worth the pining wait. The Daring Prince Dashing is Marilou Reeder’s debut children’s book.

THE DARING PRINCE DASHING. Text copyright © 2015 by Marilou T. Reeder. Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Karl West. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Sky Pony Press, New York, NY.

Purchase The Daring Prince Dashing at Amazon—Book Depository—IndieBound Books—Apple Books—Sky Pony Press.

Find The Daring Prince Dashing on Goodreads HERE.

Meet the author, Marilou T. Reeder, at her website:
Follow the author on Twitter      @MarilouReeder
Meet the illustrator, Karl West, at his website:  http://karlwestillustration.com/
Follow the artist on Twitter      @KWillustration
Find more books at the Sky Pony Press website:  http://skyponypress.com/
Follow the publisher on Twitter      @skyhorsepub
.       . Sky Pony Press is an imprint of Skyhorse Publishig.

Also by Karl West
Chicken Tricken (author: Dawn McNiff) 2016
Red Riding Hood Meets The Three Bears (author: ) 2016

THE DARING PRINCE DASHING. Illustrations © 2015 by Karl West. Used by permission of Sky Pony Press.

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Copyright © 2016 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews. All Rights Reserved

Full Disclosure: The Daring Prince Dashing by Marilou T. Reeder & Karl West, and received from Sky Pony Press, (an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing), is in exchange NOT for a positive review, but for an HONEST review. The opinions expressed are my own and no one else’s. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”