Sir Princess Petra’s Mission

About the Book

My Review

I was approached by Sue Morris from Kid Lit Reviews to be a part of this blog tour, featuring the third book of the Pen Pieyu’s series, Sir Princess Petra’s Mission. I had not had the pleasure to read this series before, so after reading the book I had committed to review, I did what I usually do when I like something: I had to go back and read the first two! Each book has its unique story and can be appreciated on its own, but reading them in order gives these fun adventures a much deeper understanding of the characters and where they are coming from. I love the fact that most characters are pretty zany and perfectly opposite to what archetypal characters on Princess and Dragons tales generally are: Petra, our main character, refuses to sit pretty and smile. She wants to learn how to fight, and discover new worlds, save problems.

As in previous books, this one opens with the King, Petra’s father, trying to device yet another strategy to withdraw Petra’s knighthood and make a “real princess” of her. This time the mission is to go find a Car-panther… whatever that mythological and scary creature might be. In the company of her noble fiery steed, Snarls the Dragon, and Bograt, a Bog Witch, Petra heads for this mission with all the bravery of the knight she has become. Using a fun grammatical device for a mix up, this scary adventure turns out to be a great trip into a magical world of elves. I also love all the little details and fun things that the series has, for example, the most horrific punishment in the Pen Pieyu Kingdom is to be put in a frilly dress. *Shudder*

I read all three books very fast. The humor, the imagination and the story are very fresh and unique. I gave the series in order to my 7 year-old daughter who read them all in three days. I had a couple of misgivings with things like food-fights in the stories, but my daughter thought they were hilarious. I’m so getting old! In any case, I would recommend this series to any young child who loves fantasy and humor, as well as alternative to bend the gender rules of the genre. Definitely a great addition to the list of Alternative Princess Books!

Some thoughts from my 7 year-old daughter

If the beginning of the book was erased, how would the book be different?
If it didn’t have a beginning, I would say Sir Princess Petra cannot be a knight since in the beginning she did a royal deed and became a royal princess-knight. she began owning Snarls the dragon in the beginning so also she would not have a royal steed-cook. Apart from not having anything to do with what I’ve said, there would not of been a knighting ceremony.

An Excerpt from Sir Princess Petra’s Mission

Petra marched over to the royal rule book, flipped back to page 101, and traced her finger along the words until she found the segment she was looking for. “Well, Father, this particular rule, written by you several full moons prior, states: ‘All knights may choose their own steed. All steeds will willingly accompany their knights. All knights will stick together.’ And it has the royal seal of approval, which, of course, means you sealed it yourself and your new rule cannot alter a previous sealed rule.”

The king’s bottom lip sagged and twitched and looked like it might fall off. The royal councilman’s eye’s flashed open wide; he turned and ran.

As the king paced, he tugged at his grey beard, then stopped doing both and narrowed his eyes to glare his why-you-little-sneaky-princess glare at Petra. “How did you know exactly what page that rule was on? And how did you know you would have to find it? Have you been reading in the royal rule book without my knowledge? Have you been in my library?”

“Father, your library does not have a Private sign on the door. Anybody in the kingdom can go in there. That royal-sealed rule is in the royal rule book too, page 9,” Petra answered with a wink to Snarls, who was now standing close by her side, fidgeting and fiddling with his claws.

By this time, the queen had finally located her pocket mirror from somewhere in the tremendous folds of her gown, looked into it, screamed, and promptly fainted. The king plopped back into his chair, rubbed his scrunched-up face for a time before he raised his arms up in the air.

Petra already knew that meant, “you are absolutely quite right, my dear daughter.” She gave Snarls and Bograt the let’s-get-going signal with her thumb. Snarls scurried after her; Bograt went the other direction.

“You still have to do the mission part, you know,” the king called out after her.

About the Author

Diane Mae Robinson is a multi-award winning author for her series, The Pen Pieyu Adventures.

Sir Princess Petra – The Pen Pieyu Adventures book awards: 2012 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artists Award (literary arts); 2012 Purple Dragonfly Book Award; 2013 Sharp Writ Book Award; 2013 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award.
Sir Princess Petra’s Talent – The Pen Pieyu Adventures book awards: 2014 Reader’s Favorite International Award; 2015 Purple Dragonfly Book Award; 2015 Children’s Literary Classics “Seal of Approval”; 2015 Children’s Literary Classics Book Award.

Diane Mae Robinson lives in central Alberta. She enjoys riding her horses, playing with her dogs, visual arts, visiting Maui often, and of course, writing. The author is also an art teacher, writing instructor, children’s book editor, and a judge in an international short story competition.

Author’s Website  /  Blog   /    Facebook

Blog Tour Schedule

• March 15   Allison Book Bag
• March 16  Bookworm 4 Kids   
• March 16  Bound 4 Escape 
• March 17   Insatiable Readers 
• March 18  Diane Mae Robinson
• March 19  Advices Books 
• March 20   Books for Bookz
• March 21   This Kid Reviews Books 
• March 23   Lovable Lobo
• March 22  Insatiable Readers
• March 28  I Read What you Write 
• March 28 I Read What you Write – Kid Review
• March 29  My Soul Called Life   
• March 30   Blooming Brilliant   Youtube video  Daughter’s Youtube Video
• March 31 Adalinc to Life
• April 5      Ice Fairy Treasure Chest
• April 7      Mami Tales  
• April 9   Nayu’s Reading Corner  
• April 10 Kid Lit Reviews 
• April 12   Stephanie M. Ward   
• April 13  Abi’s Scraps of Life  
• April 14  Domestic Chanteuse  
• April 15 Kid Lit Reviews – Character Interview
• April 16 Author Diane Mae Robinson’s Tour Wrap up.