Review by Booklist Review
Princess Sierra is home after graduating from Princess College and wants to get married specifically, to cute Prince Charminger. But Sierra's father thinks Charminger is neither a worthy nor a suitable spouse, and he decides his daughter's groom will be whoever wins this year's Pickle-Chiffon Pie Olympics. Sierra huffily flees to her aunt's home until the competition is complete. Meanwhile, a motley crew of suitor-contestants arrives, from speedy Sweeny Stickyfingers to bookish Prince Wellred and a mysterious black-armor-clad knight, whose hidden identity inspires much gossip. But from the Ogre Jump to Dragon Wrestling, no clear winner emerges, and the bicycle race made harder by the fact that bicycles hadn't been invented yet and, thus, run on foot becomes the deciding contest. It's a neck-and-neck race, with Prince Charminger trailing the Black Knight, when unexpected events bring a surprising outcome and a happy ending for all. Though the story line is slim, the text dense, and the characters somewhat undeveloped, the intricately rendered, animated color-washed line illustrations are humorously detailed and, along with the text's tongue-in-cheek asides, make for an overall entertaining offering.--Rosenfeld, Shelle Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Nearly 50 years after the publication of Pickle-Chiffon Pie, Bradfield returns with a boisterous sequel. After graduating from Princess College, Sierra declares that she wants to marry Prince Charminger, but the king decides that his daughter "can do much better than that." He announces a contest (named for the queen's famous pie), the winner of which will earn Sierra's hand. Incensed, the princess storms off to stay with her aunt. Bradfield's sense of humor is on full display in the raucous (if long-winded) descriptions of the competition: a horseshoe toss is "made more difficult by the fact that the shoes were still attached to the horse," and a bicycle race is "made harder by the fact that bicycles hadn't been invented yet." At their best, Bradfield's loose, playfully exaggerated pictures are suggestive of Quentin Blake's cartoons; the lack of color on some spreads, while intentional, nonetheless makes some scenes appear unfinished. A punchy finale upends, somewhat, the fairly conventional characterizations of a temper-prone father, marriage-obsessed daughter, and a wife who spends her time baking. Ages 3-8. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-In this sequel to Bradfield's fanciful Pickle-Chiffon Pie (Rand McNally, 1967), Princess Sierra returns home from Princess College with designs to marry cute Prince Charminger. Thinking that curly hair and dimples are no basis for choosing a husband, her father decides to hold the Pickle-Chiffon Pie Olympics. Whoever emerges as the winner of the 10-day athletic competition will marry his daughter. Vowing to drown herself in the moat if she is not allowed to marry the man of her choice, Sierra storms off to stay with Aunt Venetia. Meanwhile, several eligible men, including mean Baron Brotwurst, brawny Peter Picklepicker, and a mysterious knight in black armor, compete in events such as the horseshoe toss (with the horse still attached), the giant climb, the 10-mile bicycle race (minus the bicycles, which have not yet been invented), and, of course, the discus-throw, using pickle-chiffon pies. Bradfield's outlandish story moves along at a brisk pace until the strong-willed princess eventually gets her way. Bright, splotchy pen-and-ink drawings follow the lighthearted story, although the occasional absence of color in some illustrations is somewhat puzzling. Overall, a fun additional purchase.-Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
This decades-later sequel to Pickle-Chiffon Pie has a king insisting that his daughter marry not her beloved but the winner of a contest named for the castle delicacy. Part William Steig and part Monty Python ("the ten-mile bicycle race [was] made harder by the fact that bicycles hadn't been invented yet"), this hilariously illustrated farce doesn't even need the gross-sounding-pie motif. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
