The Princess in Black and the Bathtime Battle by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale
Series: The Princess in Black #7
Published by Candlewick Press on November 26th 2019
ISBN: 1536202215
Pages: 96
Goodreads

This title, number 7 in the series, has upped the hero game with five new heroes who come to the aid of the Princess in Black and the Goat Avenger. When a horrible stink invades the goat pasture, Princess in Black and Goat Avenger try every slick fighting move they know, to no avail. Finally, they come up with the brilliant idea of fanning the stink away, but that just moves the problem to another kingdom, and then another and another, and each attempt brings with it a hero willing to pitch in and fight the stench until there are six heroes and their trusty animal sidekicks battling a losing, smelly cause. When the heroes discover that the stench is attached to a monster, they have the brilliant idea to wash it! But it will take all of the heroes working together to restore that odoriferous beast to its original fluffy self. Pham’s exuberant illustrations together with an entertaining story that builds on the suspense of what is under all that stink will captivate fans of the series (not that you need to have read any other titles in the series to enjoy this, but familiarity with the prior stories adds to the delight of an increasing number of princess heroes) and leave them wanting more. Highly recommend for all school and public library collections with emerging and elementary-aged readers.

Reviewed by Jill O’Connor, Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth