Home Is Where the Heart Is: I Want To Go Home Now! (A Little Princess Story) by Tony Ross

ONE DAY THE QUEEN FOUND A NEW CASTLE. "THIS ONE'S TOO SMALL, NOW THAT WE HAVE YOUR BROTHER!" SAID THE QUEEN.

"BUT... I DON'T WANT TO LIVE ANYWHERE ELSE!" SAID THE LITTLE PRINCESS.

"OH, YES, YOU DO!"

Mom (the Queen) is super-psyched over the new castle. There is a big bedroom for the Little Princess, and her baby brother has his own room, too. There is a super-snaZZy kitchen, with all the latest features. And there's plenty of space for that lot of, um, retainers to hang out away from their castle courtyard.

But the Little Princess is homesick--homesick for the old castle.

"I WANT TO GO HOME!" SHE MOANED. "NOW!"

"YOU ARE HOME!" INSISTED THE QUEEN.

But the Little Princess continues to sulk and weep and moan about going home to the old castle. At last the Queen decides to take her back for a quick visit to their old place, now owned by the Duke of Somewhere-or-Other.

But things have changed. The Duke has painted the castle pink and taken the Princess's old room to decorate in his own style. The Duchess has re-decorated the old kitchen, and the new owners have turned the Little Princess's garden into a parking lot for their collection of  vintage cars. The Duke and Duchess are really proud of their new digs, so proud that that when they serve tea and cakes, the Duchess admonishes the Princess not to drop a single crumb.

"AFTER ALL, WE DON'T WANT BIRDS, DO WE?

WE HAVE TO VACUUM THE GRASS EVERY DAY AS IT IS!" SHE COMPLAINS.

The Little Princess looks around. This castle doesn't feel like home anymore.

"I WANT TO GO HOME!" SHE INSISTED.

The Queen concurs, and home they go, where there are crumbs and birds and mud puddles to play in, in Tony Ross's latest in his popular Little Princess series, I Want to Go Home! (A Little Princess Story) (Anderson Press, 2014). Moving from the only home they've ever known is hard for youngsters, but Tony Ross's story lets his young readers share their tears and feelings while reminding them that the things that matter--family and family ways--never change. Ross's warm and funny illustrations are classic castle kitsch, with baby brother on his royal potty, and the Little Princess, with her too-big crown down to her eyebrows and her droopy little bear with his crown riding low, offer pathos and humor in equal doses. As School Library Journal says, "Ross continues his tradition of illuminating issues that trouble young children. A great new chapter in this series."