HOW PRUDENCE PROOVIT PROVED THE TRUTH ABOUT FAIRY TALES
Coleen Murtagh Paratore, , illus. by Tamara Petrosino. . S&S, $15.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-689-86274-8
Rational thinking makes a girl unpopular and whimsy wins her friends: so suggests this tale, which does a disservice to logic and literature both. Prudence Proovit has a know-it-all name, strict professors for parents and three secret wishes for "curly hair, a dollhouse, and most of all, a sister." At school, Prudence prefers science to Snow White, and asks bratty but reasonable questions about Goldilocks ("The original dumb blonde?") and Red Riding Hood ("Couldn't that girl tell a woman from a wolf?"). Meanwhile, she receives mysterious postcards: "Dear Prude, Lighten up.... It helps to let down your hair. 'R.' " In the end, the cards' "Fairy Tale Forest" postmarks satisfy Prudence that "Fairy tales must be true," freeing her imagination and allowing her wishes to be granted. Petrosino (
Reviewed on: 07/05/2004
Genre: Children's