Princess Arabella Goes to School

Princess Arabella is super excited to start school, and runs in with her golden pens and royal lunchbox safely packed in her bag. Yet when she gets to school, she isn’t overly impressed with the lesson on how to curtsy with elegance, or on balancing a book on her head and walking with grace, for that matter.

School for princesses isn’t all she’d hoped – fortunately, the teacher takes pity on her and says that the next day, all the princesses can bring in their favourite animal. Yet when Arabella brings in not one Elephant but two, the teacher might start to regret her decision…

This instalment of the Princess Arabella series covers the familiar milestone of starting school, with Arabella’s royal twist. Acknowledging that school isn’t quite what some children might imagine it to be is a good message to include, as is Arabella’s rejection of some of the more traditional princessy activities. Freeman’s bold illustration is delightful and the depiction of a black princess is very welcome in picture books.