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"The Princess in Black and the Kitty Catastrophe"

 Written by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale                Illustrated by LeUyen Pham

       
Image Source: thriftbooks.com
"The Princess in Black and the Kitty Catastrophe" is a level three book. It fulfills many of the requirements. It has controlled vocabulary, a higher frequency of compound and complex sentences, 8 words per line, it does not succeed 15 lines per page, the text covers three-fourths of the page. However, the illustrations do appear more than expected for a level three book. There is one to two illustrations per spread.
        This beginning readers makes me think that there should be a step between level 3 and transitional books. I think that "The Princess in Black" books would be a great stepping stone for a child that is starting to gain confidence in reading and ready to begin simpler chapter books, but not quite ready for something more complex like "The Magic Treehouse" series. The illustrations are important in helping a child to use their imagination to picture what they're reading by anchoring in the illustrations.


Hale, Shannon and Dean. The Princess in Black and the Kitty Catastrophe. Illustrated by LeUyen Pham. Candlewick Press, 2024. 90 pages. TR. $14.24, ISBN 978-1-5362-3409-1.
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