In this story of loss and healing through friendship and creativity, two French ducks stand in for children who may be processing similar changes in their own families.
Garret Freymann-Weyr, whose young adult novels (My Heartbeat; After the Moment) focus on a central event that results in the hero's maturity, here successfully translates her approach for a picture-book audience. For two French ducks living in Venice, California's canals, Polina Panova can do no wrong. She is, as Georges and Cécile (the French duck siblings) call her, "a Russian princess." She makes beautiful dresses in her canal-side bungalow, and adds to her fabrics a touch of "grass, flowers, pieces of the night sky, and strawberry jam." While Polina thinks her "prince" of a boyfriend, filmmaker Sebastian Sterling, makes her a princess, Georges and Cécile believe it's her dresses that grant her royal status. One day, Sebastian Sterling goes away, and suddenly Polina Panova is "a Russian princess without a prince." Georges becomes determined to find a present that will make Polina happy again.
First-time artist Erin McGuire's artwork accentuates the ducks' idealized image of Polina with scenes that resemble animation stills of princess fairy tales. She endows the French ducks with personality and perfectly captures the Pacific light that dances on the Venetian canals at dawn. This gentle story delivers a realistic yet hopeful message. Polina does, with Georges's gift, continue to do what she loves--making dresses. Although the hole left by the absence of a loved one can never truly be filled, one can, by doing what gives life meaning, find moments of happiness. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness