I think I mentioned last week that I've been keeping a particular eye on junior fiction lately, with my 6 year old daughter Amelia just starting to move into independent reading, and - given that we've had our share of Frozen fever here - I don't think there are many titles that could be further into our wheelhouse than these Disney Frozen Beginnings books!
These are junior/beginner reader chapter books about Anna and Elsa before the events of their movie.
Before she was Queen of Arendelle, Elsa was a young princess with a magical gift. Elsa cannot wait to spend time with her family at their summer home. Her powers seem to be getting stronger every day, and their family vacation seems to be the perfect opportunity to test out her icy abilities. But while Anna can spend all day playing outside, Queen Iduna tells Elsa she must continue her lessons to prepare for her future as Queen. As magical mishaps seem to happen more and more, Elsa begins to wonder if she has what it takes to one day become Queen of Arendelle and if the powers she always believed made her special might be a curse after all.
ANNA FINDS A FRIEND
Before Anna saved Elsa in an act of true love, she was a young girl looking for a friend. When Anna's parents, Queen Iduna and King Agnarr, go off on a trip, Anna finds herself lonelier than ever. Her sister, Elsa, seems determined to avoid her, and all Anna wants is a friend to play with. She imagines another girl her own age, Astrid, and sends her a letter. To her surprise, Astrid writes back! But as the two become friends through their letters, Anna begins to wonder if Astrid is closer than she first thought.
We really enjoyed these! I think it is wonderful to have little books like this that aren't intimidating for beginner readers, and feature characters they already love - I feel like it is just enough to give them that extra little nudge into chapter books if they are feeling a bit nervous about transitioning from picture books.The stories were sweet, and I really appreciated that the chapters were short so we could read them together at bedtime - we read them aloud, taking turns to do the actual reading.
Disney has a little series of these books, which are called Disney Princess: Beginnings here in Australia, including stories about all of your favourite Disney Princesses - we actually received the Mulan book earlier this week, and it looks just as lovely as these two - we're looking forward to reading it soon!
xo Bron
***
Elsa's Icy Rescue and Anna Finds a Friend
Out now from Scholastic Australia, who kindly sent us these copies for review.
