I am lazy this week. That's my excuse for not posting yesterday. And today I am doing this while it is still early, before the day starts to suck. I am not being a pessimist; I know its going to suck. Because I forgot to set my alarm last night when I went to bed at 1am, and luckily woke up just in time to brush my teeth and throw on some clothes and get to work. So I am all kind of itchy and befuddled.

Anyways, today I thought I would talk about The Princess Knight by Cornelia Funke. She's most famous for her novels, though I've only read one of them. I didn't love The Thief Lord, though it wasn't terrible by any means. The good thing about picture books, is that they are short. So if they're no good, you have only spent a few minutes reading a book you're not enjoying, whereas a novel would take up several hours.

Fortunately for me, I quite enjoyed The Princess Knight. Violetta is a princess, with four older brothers. They spend all their time jousting and such, training to be knights. But Violetta's not allowed to join in, being a girl and all. So she sneaks off at night, practicing very hard. Her dad, however, remains old fashioned. When Violetta turns sixteen, he announces a jousting contest, the prize of which will be her hand in marriage. Her father instructs her to "put on your finest gown and practice your prettiest smile." This to the girl who's the quickest, nimblest knight in the land!

Fortunately, Violetta is also quite clever. On the day of the tournament, she appears in black armour, and jousts in the tournament as Sir No-Name. Of course she wins, and declares that she shall choose her own prize: "I hereby proclaim that no one will ever win Princess Violetta's hand in marriage without first defeating Sir No-Name." And so she rode off, far, far away.

Upon her return, she married the rose gardener's son, and they lived happily ever after.

Yay! I love this story! I also quite enjoyed Kerstin Meyer's illustrations, which, according to the jacket, were inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry. King Wilfrid the Worthy is suitably silly looking, and Violetta is not your traditional beatiful princess. She's kind of spunky looking, and appropriately tomboyish.

The Princess Knight written by Cornelia Funke illustrated by Kerstin Meyer
ISBN 0439536308
32 pages