How Prudence Proovit Proved the Truth About Fairy Tales [Hardcover]

Coleen Murtagh Paratore (Author), Tamara Petrosino (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

K-Gr. 2. It may be ill-advised to put so much slippery philosophical underpinning in a picture book, but there it is. Prudence is the home-schooled child of two professors. She and her parents make a straw-man dichotomy between science and fairy tales, and then the book goes about demolishing same. When Prudence gets invited to school, she is horrified to see that Miss Bliss tells fairy tales all the time. Then Prudence starts getting postcards full of punnery: "It helps to let down your hair. R." or "Why so grumpy? Are you sleepy? S.W and the D's." And Miss Bliss says all you have to do is believe. A costume ball at school culminates in the revelation that Miss Bliss is a fairy godmother and in Prudence' conversion to the fairy side of the force and the idea that believing makes it so. The text, a bit hyper, is matched by pictures that are jazzed, bright cartoons. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing (May 18, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689862741
• ISBN-13: 978-0689862748
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,498,024 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fairy Tales vs. Science, June 3, 2004

By 

Heidi Anne Heiner (SurLaLune Fairy Tales.com) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: How Prudence Proovit Proved the Truth About Fairy Tales (Hardcover)

Prudence Proovit doesn't believe in fairy tales; she prefers science and facts over fantasy. Her parents, scientists at heart, decide to send her to school despite the risk of Prudence learning ideas outside their own values of science over fiction. The debate that Prudence experiences, with her teacher and within herself, is lighthearted but has serious undertones. What does a child do when her teacher's values are different from those of her parents? What does she believe? A little trickery on the part of the teacher pushes Prudence to find an answer.

While the story has a good heart, the book borders on ineffective didacticism for adults instead of an entertaining story for all ages, promoting Einstein's theory that fairy tales in his childhood fed his imagination and genius. Still, young children will enjoy the fun illustrations and Prudence's desire for a sibling. There are enough fairy tale allusions to entertain the fairy tale savvy crowd, whatever age. It's cute, and even fun in some places, but Prudence Proovit isn't destined to be a classic.

5.0 out of 5 stars Love it!, July 2, 2009

By 

Melissa (Bucks County, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Prudence Proovit Proved the Truth About Fairy Tales (Hardcover)

We found a signed copy of this book in our local discount bookstore and it was like finding a gem! My daughter (who is now 4 yrs old) has hundreds of books, and this has been in the absolute top 5 of favorites since age 2 when she got it. I do different voices for the people who sent the postcards and I gave Miss Bliss and english accent.This is a great book for kids!!

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Impressed, December 27, 2007

By 

Mother of 3 (MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Prudence Proovit Proved the Truth About Fairy Tales (Hardcover)

While my child enjoys the story line and the pictures, I am not pleased with the content. I skip 2 sections when I read this to my toddler. In the first part I skip, the main character asks "Who is the original dumb blonde?" in reference to Goldilocks. That is unbelievably inappropriate! The second part I skip is when the main character uses the word "stupid." I had to check the age range for this book .... certainly not a good sign if Mom has to censor the book when reading aloud.