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The Real, True Dulcie Campbell
A little girl discovers her true identity
Dulcie Campbell knows she's a princess. The woman with old bunny slippers can't be her real mother. The man with scratchy whiskers isn't her real father. The boy who teases her isn't her real brother. And the dog who sniffs her isn't hers, either. Dulcie sets out to live the life she was born for. "Take a warm jacket!" calls the woman. "Don't forget your book!" calls the man. "I thought you said you were leaving!" shouts the boy. The dog drools. Off to the barn (the royal palace) goes Dulcie, where she perches on a bale of hay (her throne) to wait for things to right themselves. Then she opens her book of fairy tales and learns that the life of a princess isn't all that she's dreamed - and that the one she's been living may not be so bad after all.
Wry, funny, and utterly charming, Cynthia DeFelice's story is pictured to perfection by R. W. Alley.
Dulcie Campbell knows she's a princess. The woman with old bunny slippers can't be her real mother. The man with scratchy whiskers isn't her real father. The boy who teases her isn't her real brother. And the dog who sniffs her isn't hers, either. Dulcie sets out to live the life she was born for. "Take a warm jacket!" calls the woman. "Don't forget your book!" calls the man. "I thought you said you were leaving!" shouts the boy. The dog drools. Off to the barn (the royal palace) goes Dulcie, where she perches on a bale of hay (her throne) to wait for things to right themselves. Then she opens her book of fairy tales and learns that the life of a princess isn't all that she's dreamed - and that the one she's been living may not be so bad after all.
Wry, funny, and utterly charming, Cynthia DeFelice's story is pictured to perfection by R. W. Alley.
- GenresPicture BooksChildrens
32 pages, Hardcover
First published September 20, 2002
About the author
Cynthia C. DeFelice
35 books120 followersCynthia DeFelice is the author of many bestselling titles for young readers, including the novels Wild Life, The Ghost of Cutler Creek, Signal, and The Missing Manatee, as well as the picture books, One Potato, Two Potato, and Casey in the Bath. Her books have been nominated for an Edgar Allen Poe Award and listed as American Library Association Notable Children's Books and Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, among numerous other honors.
Cynthia was born in Philadelphia in 1951. As a child, she was always reading. Summer vacations began with a trip to the bookstore, where she and her sister and brothers were allowed to pick out books for their summer reading. “To me,” she says, “those trips to the bookstore were even better than the rare occasions when we were given a quarter and turned loose at the penny-candy store on the boardwalk.” Cynthia has worked as a bookseller, a barn painter, a storyteller, and a school librarian.
When asked what she loves best about being an author, she can’t pick just one answer: “I love the feeling of being caught up in the lives of the characters I am writing about. I enjoy the challenge of trying to write as honestly as I can, and I find enormous satisfaction in hearing from readers that something I wrote touched them, delighted them, made them shiver with fear or shake with laughter, or think about something new.” Cynthia and her husband live in Geneva, New York.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/cynthi...
Cynthia was born in Philadelphia in 1951. As a child, she was always reading. Summer vacations began with a trip to the bookstore, where she and her sister and brothers were allowed to pick out books for their summer reading. “To me,” she says, “those trips to the bookstore were even better than the rare occasions when we were given a quarter and turned loose at the penny-candy store on the boardwalk.” Cynthia has worked as a bookseller, a barn painter, a storyteller, and a school librarian.
When asked what she loves best about being an author, she can’t pick just one answer: “I love the feeling of being caught up in the lives of the characters I am writing about. I enjoy the challenge of trying to write as honestly as I can, and I find enormous satisfaction in hearing from readers that something I wrote touched them, delighted them, made them shiver with fear or shake with laughter, or think about something new.” Cynthia and her husband live in Geneva, New York.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/cynthi...
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 20, 2013
I liked this story because the girl who rebels against her family, saying she is really a princess and not her plain self, realizes that there is a lot of trouble being a princess and appreciates the family she has. The illustrations were pretty plain but the storytelling was pretty dramatic. I'm not sure how much my four-year-old got out of this, but here's hoping!
December 27, 2022
It was fun. My kids liked it. I was disgusted that my kids didn't know what manure was.
February 15, 2015
This is a fun story of escapism and wanting to be someone else, someplace else. It shows both the glamour and the dark side of being a princess in a fairy tale and like Dorothy in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dulcie learns that "there's no place like home." She decides that she would rather be Dulcie instead of Princess Dulcinea.
We really enjoyed reading this book together, although some of the illustrations might be a bit too scary for younger children. We've read this one a couple of times.
We really enjoyed reading this book together, although some of the illustrations might be a bit too scary for younger children. We've read this one a couple of times.
September 9, 2012
Dulcie Campbell has a fantastic imagination and in this book she confronts who she is and who she truly wants to be. Although her imaginary world is great to a point, she comes to realize that her real family is better than anything her imagination has to offer. We have been placed where we are for a reason.
April 23, 2012
how can a person be true?
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews