What small child doesn't have their favourite blankie or snuggly or clothie or any number of other named bits of comforting cloth they love to snuggle to sleep with? For some its a muslin square they met on their mother's shoulder when they were being burped after a feed. For some its a shred of old blanket with a silky ribbon edge to rub. For one child I knew it was a whole swimming costume! But for Princess Alice it's a checked cloth that looks almost like a table cloth.
The name 'Alice' of course rhymes nicely with 'palace', and the whole of this lovely story text romps along with rhythm and rhyme skill equal to a Julia Donaldson text.
Alice's blankie goes missing, so she sets off in search for it, finding her brother, then a giant, then a witch who have all used the blankie in different ways, but have then passed it on.
And now the blankie is with a dragon. Is that wonderful blue dragon scary? No, and neither are the witch or giant. But the dragon has a problem. It needs the blankie for its own comfort. Alice and the dragon are both sleepy and weepy, and neither can get to sleep without a comforter. So clever Alice finds a new comforter for the dragon ...
...And you'll have to read the book to find out what that is!
Paula Metcalf's pictures with their colour palate of oranges and blues are a delight. And the big handsome hardback book with shiny gold lettering and crown and fruit and sandals on the cover makes this feel a very special book indeed. To be treasured as if it was a blankie!
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