The Red Prince

The Red Prince is a sweet adventure story book based around the theme of friendship, family, team work and courage. When the poor Prince is left to look after his Island of Avala, when his parents go away, he is kidnapped and taken by a mysterious group of people, who soon take over his beloved island. It is up to the Prince to escape from these wicked people, however, this is very difficult to do when dressed all in red! With the help of some unexpected people, the Prince must make his way back home and take back his island. The illustrations are the main aid to this story and capture the feelings and emotions the Prince might going through with the colours used. However the only issue would be the boxes around the text that sometimes make it difficult to read due to colour choice. This could be problematic with early readers. However the books lends itself to so many themes and opportunities to explore in the classroom around friendship and teamwork within PSHE lessons. The story could also help with looking at courage and achievement and how we can achieve even what seem impossible with people's help. The illustrations in the book would also be perfect to use for creative writing as a starting point or to use a sole image to create a story or imaginative writing piece. I think the book would be enjoyed in KS1, however for creative writing use it could be used in Lower KS2. Picture book / Ages 5+ / Reviewed by Lauren Maidman

Suggested Reading Age 5+