Three princesses with hair piled high into superlative coifs deliver a message about the relationship between work and play in Lum's (What! Cried Granny) tale of royals switching roles. Princesses Allie, Mellie and Libby—whose Marie Antoinette–style dos differ only in color—wonder one day if their servants have more fun than they do. When they instruct the housekeeper to boss them around as if they were real servants—"No arguing, Mrs. Blue"—she obliges them by driving them from pillar to post. Their wild list of chores ("They had to churn
the butter and drain
the butter and mold
the butter into pats and every
pat had to bear the crown to show that it's the royal kind") forces them to miss all three meals. "But they didn't want anyone to say that princesses are quitters," so they work until midnight to get everything done. Hellard's (the Dilly series) dainty, pale-pastel watercolors add to the fun, with chairs stacked up to the ballroom ceiling to allow the princesses to dust, and long shopping lists ("1000 peacock eggs"). Of course, after their day of work, the princesses issue a proclamation allowing the servants to sleep in until nine, rest when they're tired and eat when they're hungry. They also discover that being waited on hand and foot isn't as satisfying as eating royal butter pats they've churned themselves. Whether they're eager chore-doers or not, little princesses will find this tale a royal treat. Ages 4-8. (Apr.)
