I was attracted to Princess Kevin due to the bright pink cover and the beautiful dress, which reminded me of 18th-century French court fashion. I noticed the incongruous title third and had to pick it up.
Princess Kevin is a very cute children's book in which Kevin wants to wear a princess costume to his school's fancy dress party. But he wants a knight to hold his hand to complete his costume, and none of the kids dressed as knights are willing to help. Meanwhile, Chloe (who is dressed to a dragon) is kind to him even though he thinks her dragon costume is sub-par and sock-like.
I appreciate that Princess Kevin tackles issues of gender roles that might be fraught for adults in a manner perfectly suited for children. There's nothing wrong with children playing around and being creative and imaginative. The important thing is to be kind to one another and have fun together. (And I love the touch that Kevin realizes wearing high heels all day is not fun!)
My favorite part might be the illustrations by Roland Garrigue. There's an old-fashioned nature to them and all the kids having messy hair reminds me of Hilary Knight's Eloise. The colors are lovely, too. I really love the choices for all the other children's costumes in the background.
The story is pretty slight, but it is nice to see a book tackles a fraught issue without making a big deal of it. There is some complicated vocabulary. Between that and the subject, I think Princess Kevin is a book best read to a child.
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