Princess Battle Royale
by Phaea Crede; illus. by Jen Hill
Primary    Viking    40 pp.
8/25    9780593621370    $18.99
e-book ed.  9780593621387    $10.99

This picture book using comic-style conventions presents a mashup of professional-wrestling bluster and traditional fairy-tale characters and tropes in one dramatic sporting event: World Princess Wrestling, or WPW. Six princesses “from all over the globe” intend to wrestle “reigning victor” Swan Princess for the Enchanted Championship Belt. Little Red Riding Hood serves as towel girl, all the while pleading for her own chance to fight. After five rounds (Badroulbadour and Cinderella Ninjarella compete as a pair)—each vividly illustrated and entertainingly narrated—Swan Princess is still undefeated. With all the other princesses knocked out, Little Red finally steps into the ring. “In this corner, one rough-and-tough pirouetting-not-fretting queen-in-the-making-with-a-belt-for-the-taking! And in this corner…a kid in a little red wrestling singlet?” No one suspects the wolfish tricks she has under her hood. The theatrical fighting and fairy-tale taunting, shown in speech bubbles, command attention, but the tiny comical details in the illustrations, from the architecture of the locker rooms to the familiar characters populating the crowd, make this book worth poring over. In the end, Little Red Riding Hood’s victory serves to inspire other small fighters, with Thumbelina immediately declaring herself “Ready-to-Rumble-ina.” The spectacle ends with a collection of WPW cards featuring each wrestler with her name, region of origin, signature move, and a “fun fact”—e.g., Sleeping Beauty “credits daily naps for her success.”

From the September/October 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.