Right before Christmas a reader (thanks Erin!) emailed me about a book she thought I would like. I was looking for a book for my nearly 6 year old daughter as a gift and thought this would be perfect. On Christmas Day my daughter ended up getting The Apple Pip Princess by Jane Ray and we read it this week. It is a very lovely story, one that my daughter listened to in eager anticipation and it is one I am sure I will be asked to read many times over.

The story is about a sad King whose land and heart have been barren ever since the death of his beloved wife. Concerned about the future of his kingdom he challenges his three daughters to do something important to make their mark and after 7 days the King will see what they have accomplished and decide who the next ruler will be.

The two older sisters decide to build tall towers as monuments to their own beauty and accomplishment. One tower is made of wood and one is made of metal. They both command their subjects to bring them raw materials even if doing so poses a hardship for them. The youngest daughter, Serenity, chooses to utilizes her mother's box of nature's treasures including a tiny Apple Pip (seed). She plants it in the ground and every day she plants more trees, cherry, olive, plum, orange, etc. Seeing what she is doing, the villagers volunteer to help her with the planting and share their wisdom and knowledge about farming. With the help of the other items in the box the land becomes a lush and fertile paradise again and Serenity shows that she is the one worthy to be the new leader.

The story was beautiful and so is are the illustrations. My daughter was oohing and aahing quite a bit. I also loved that the princesses were not the sterotypical blonde, cookie cutter princesses either, even if the older two sisters were on the vain side and slightly scary with their tendencies to throw people in the dungeon! But if they were as empathetic as their younger sister we wouldn't have as dramatic a story. The main character is kind of shy and unsure of herself but willing to follow her heart.

I think any little girls will love this story but if you like underlying eco themes than this book is perfect… a good story, great characters, and no gloom and doom. An eco fairy tale… A++