Night Shift Sparkle: Part-Time Princess: Girl by Day, Princess by Night by Deborah Underwood

DURING THE DAY I AM A REGULAR GIRL.

I HAVE TO TAKE SPELLING TESTS.

I AM NOT ALLOWED TO JUMP OFF THE HIGH DIVE.

BUT AT NIGHT AFTER MY MY MOM TUCKS ME IN,

I BECOME A PRINCESS AT THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT...
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Being night-shift royalty is a pretty good gig. A sparkling crown appears on her head, and she gets to dress in appropriately pink gowns and ride around  in pink pumpkin coaches.

But the princess is no wuss. When circumstances require, she becomes a heroine. This part-time princess is up to sliding down a fire pole in her frilly pink gown,donning monogrammed gear, and leading fire-fighters in putting out a palace blaze. She soothes a dangerous dragon with tea and sympathy for his broken crayons, and even faces the most perilous of all challenges, co-hostessing the royal ball with the Queen Mother, both of them dressed in starlit gowns with sparkles in their hair. A princess must have superior social skills, too, and when a troupe of trolls crash the party, she signals the band to crank up their favorite dance tunes to get their trollish toes happily twinkling.

There's even a cute prince in attendance who catches her eye, but she wisely defers that thought until later:

MAYBE I'LL MARRY HIM WHEN I GROW UP, BUT RIGHT NOW I'M TOO BUSY.

But in Deborah Underwood's latest, Part-time Princess (Philomel, 2013), this princess has to punch herself out when the alarm clock goes off and return to her prosaic day job. Could it all be no more than a nice nighttime dream?  Except... when Mom comes in to get her up for school, she notices that they both still have a trace of that royal sparkle in their hair.

Underwood lets a bit of her night life into our girl's day shift in this humorous look at princessly aspirations, lightly and playfully illustrated by Cambria Evans with just the right touch of  pastel fancy. Perfect for pairing with Julie Andrew's feisty The Very Fairy Princess and sequels.