Priscilla and the Pink Planet

Nathaniel Hobbie
Little, Brown Young Readers (2004)
ISBN 9780316735797
Reviewed by Olivia Alejandre (age 4) and Mom for Reader Views (12/07)

Mom’s review / summary:
After reading this book with Olivia, I felt inspired to go outside and really LOOK at nature, appreciating all it has to offer and its glorious colors.  Looking at page after page of pink, the butterfly truly comes to life on the page when it is introduced into the story.

When Olivia’s a little older, I think she may better understand the concept of appreciating certain aspects of life more when we experience the negative side periodically.  Her main focus with this book was making sure the butterfly was safe and talking about the “mean queen.”

I appreciate the rhyming prose very much – it gives a song-like quality.  Also, the potential for vocabulary building and using words that are somewhat challenging impressed me.  If the story and artwork are interesting enough (which they are in this book), children will either learn new words through context or they will inquire as to the meaning of those new words.  Wonderful!

One of the first things that Olivia noticed in this book was the bike (she loves riding bikes).

Olivia’s review:
“One day, there were some people, looking up in the sky at the red star, very pretty.  Looking at the red star is very fun.  Pink is very useful.  She found somewhere that’s not pink.  And that’s a pretty place.  And, she got stuck in some yucky pink muck.  Pink yucky muck.  And she found something with other colors and it was very beautiful.  Butterfly.  There was some water that you could drink and the butterfly could drink it.  And the butterfly went in the tent and it was the Great Queen of Pink.  And, she was looking mean and she said ‘This is my world of pink and it’s mine.  And this butterfly is mine and I’m taking it home.  This world of pink is mine.’  ‘Can I please take this butterfly home in this jar?’  ‘No,’ said the queen.  Then the Queen fed her some food.  The Queen patted her head very nicely and then she played and played.  The Queen let the colors out.  And, she went home, dancing home.  The End.”

Some quotes from Olivia about the book:
“Why is she closing her ears? (on the page preceding the butterfly’s arrival)  Is it loud?”

“That lady is mean.  And she caught the butterfly.  And, the butterfly is in the net and it’s yellow.”

“Where is the butterfly on this page?” (she started worrying about the butterfly)

“It looks very pretty because all of those butterfly’s colors are off of it (and into the world) and the world looks pretty with all the colors.”

“Look !  There’s the butterfly !  And, the butterfly has pretty colors on it !”

[Mom]:  “What did you think about the book?”
“Good, but I didn’t like when the mean Queen came.”

After we read “Priscilla and the Pink Planet” and talked about it, she retrieved her guitar from the other room and sang a song about the butterfly and its colors:  “Sing a song to the butterfly.  Sing a song to the butterfly.  Sing a song to the butterfly.  Flowers, flowers, flowers.  Give some water to the flowers.”

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