There’s nothing better than storytime with my children before bed. My kids are fragrant and calm after their bath, satiated after dinner and hot milk, and too tired to continue their infinite battle against each other (the non-stop fighting shall resume with vigour tomorrow morning). I savour their warm, tired bodies against mine as we huddle together on the lower bunk, reading our choices for that evening.
Sometimes, it’s two books, sometimes it’s five or six, but lately our sampling has always included at least one of these gems by Victoria Kann and Elizabeth Kann, Pinkalicious and Purplicious. These delightful tales tell the story of Pinkalicious: The self-titled book has the precocious heroine indulging in a few too many pink cupcakes – to the point where she herself becomes pink. The only antidote to this condition, "acute pinkititis", as diagnosed by the paediatrician, is to consume vast amounts of green vegetables. Pinkalicious is self-aware and initially content with her pinkness. My favourite line in the story occurs when she is first conscious of her altered state. She states: "I cried because I was so beautiful." Love it.
The story is written in lovely, rhythmic alliterative prose and the illustrations are captivating. My son, my daughter and I read this book almost every night, so much so that we know almost all the words by heart. While I’m reading, my kids are whispering the words to themselves, charmed and soothed by the sweet story.
Purplicious shows us another side of Pinkalicious: She is her own person – she loves pink more than any other colour, even though the mean kids at school (who love black) taunt her for her pedestrian choice of favourite shade. Pinkalicious feels "alone" in the world, and that no one will ever understand her. Torn between her love of pink and her desire to fit in, she abandons pink in hope of achieving social comfort at school. Her choice brings her only sadness and gloom, and all appears morose until she makes a special friend.
Every time I read these books, I want to squeeze them – they make our sweet evenings even sweeter. I highly recommend them if you’ve got girls between the ages of 3 and 6. My son is a secret fan of the Kann books (he won’t admit it, but ALWAYS is around when I’m reading them, and I’ve seen him mouthing the words) but you may have to trick your boys into reading them.
We’ve had Pinkilicious for a while and it was definitely one of my daughter’s favourites. (Now Max loves it!) I had no idea there was a Purplicious, though! That works out perfectly since her favourite colour has switched from pink to purple (since it’s it’s much cooler, of course). Thanks for the reviews!
Coincidence – my neighbour dropped by last week and gave my daughter a copy of Pinkilicious – havn’t read it yet but will make a point of it in the next few nights!
Oooh…I can’t wait to pick these ones up for my own three-year old who vacillates between being pinkilicious and purplicious on a daily basis.