Stewie Boom! And Princess Penelope: Handprints, Snowflakes And Play-Dates

The fourth in the Stewie Boom! series, Stewie Boom! and Princess Penelope: Handprints, Snowflakes and Play-Dates celebrates differences in nature and in children, providing a myriad of relatable tips for both children and parents on how to work with and appreciate one another’s individuality.

Princess Penelope, Stewie’s sister, narrates this story about how a lesson about the uniqueness of handprints, snowflakes, and children leads to Penelope’s playdate with Eric, who, Penelope’s mother explains, has “unique preferences.”

The message about understanding and accepting differences is relevant and important for children and adults alike. And the tips at the end of the book provide detailed suggestions for special needs parents and hosts of playdates with special needs children.

The sweet and bubbly Penelope, with her obvious tendency to be a loving and friendly child–as seen by her interactions with her brother, Stewie–makes a formidable narrator and role model who children can relate to. Both the text and the illustrations capture the nuances in the interactions, including the closeness of Princess Penelope and her mother as she demonstrates facial expressions and body language that reveal emotions, and the joy that Eric’s mother experiences after a successful playdate. The illustrations are colorful and realistic, effectively conveying the children’s personalities and activities. The multitude of facial expressions capture the variety of children’s moods as they interact with one another, like playfulness and joy but also Eric’s anxiety when Penelope and Stewie’s voices get a little loud during their games.

Penelope’s voice as the narrator is, for the most part, effective as a child narrator. It captures the syntax of children’s speech with sentences such as, “It took us a lot of practicing. A really LOT of practicing.” This, however, makes it surprising to see longer, more complex, and grammatically correct sentences that contain words such as “eventually” and “flexible.”

The metaphor comparing the uniqueness of a handprint and Eric’s brain is also effective. However, it is surprising that the use of the the term “on the spectrum” is not expounded upon either in the story or in the suggestions for special needs parents or playdate hosts so as to encourage the correct application of the term and provide a more detailed explanation for children wanting more information.

Overall, Stewie Boom! and Princess Penelope: Handprints, Snowflakes and Play-Dates provides an approachable introduction into our distinct differences and how to work with and celebrate them.