Monica Kulling’s Queen in Disguise was much better than I anticipated. What pleasantly surprised me about the book was that the story was original, and not another re-telling of The Phantom Menace.
It’s a very short tale. Captain Panaka explains to the Queen that her handmaidens are more than simple attendants who take care of her hair and fashion, that in fact, they are a trained security force qualified to protect her should trouble arise. The Queen tells Panaka that she too wants to be trained like the handmaiden’s, and then goes undercover in the guise of a new recruit into the handmaiden’s ranks.
While undergoing training against some droids, the Queen gets to demonstrate that she is more than a young monarch. The tale ends with Padme rescuing one of the handmaidens from danger, and reveals to her attendants that she is the Queen, but even more importantly, that she can handle herself should the going get tough.
The best aspect of Queen in Disguise, however, was the art. John Alvin’s illustrations were worth the price of admission. His watercolour work is brilliant. But more importantly, my 4-year-old son enjoyed the story, and it has now become one of the regular books I read to him before bed.
For my next post I’ll be taking a look at Tales #5: A Summer’s Dream. Until then my friends, may the Force be with you.
Heh, that's great that your son likes the book. My nephew (two-and-a-half years) loves for me to read him The Baby Ewoks' Picnic Surprise.
ReplyDeleteThat book sounds hilariously fun. I'm sure my son would enjoy that one as well.
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