Princess Penelope's Parrot

April 30, 2001
An ultra-spoiled royal receives a pet parrot for her birthday; the parrot is so appalled by the girl's greediness that it refuses to speak to her. "There may be no one more adroit at wryly depicting childish petulance than Munsinger, while Lester's storytelling calls to mind the dry wit of a Thurber," said PW. Ages 4-8.

October 2, 1996
It's Penelope's birthday, and decked out in a dress that has "ruffles on its ruffles on its ruffles," the ultra-spoiled princess is naturally getting everything she wants, including mouthfuls of cake, a 16-wheeler bike and jewel-studded roller blades. One gift, however, refuses to fit into Penelope's game plan: a bright green parrot, who is so appalled by its new owner's greediness that it refuses to speak. Penelope fumes at the bird, but the joke is on her: everything she says to it comes back to haunt her at a most inauspicious moment. There may be no one more adroit at wryly depicting childish petulance than Munsinger, while Lester's storytelling calls to mind the dry wit of a Thurber. Shrewdly, author and artist punish Penelope but they do not reform her; they will tickle their readers with their antiheroine's irremediably bad behavior. Ages 4-8.