Princess Lila is a princess who had everything in order to be happy, and yet she wasn’t. She lived in an enormous castle, had all of the material things a princess could hope for and servants to take care of her every need. But she wasn’t allowed outside of the walls of her castle and she had no friends. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t be so happy in that situation either.
So begins the story Princess Lila Builds a Tower, by Anne Paradis (CrackBoom! Books, May 2017). Lila tries a variety of ways to get past her parent’s rule about not leaving the castle grounds and still seeing the world outside the walls, until she decides to build a tower with the help of one of her tutors. The tutor is thrilled as it will involve architecture, geometry and mathematics.
While still staying a princess, Lila designs the tower and becomes project manager overseeing its construction. Her dream of seeing into the distance finally comes into fruition and she even manages, somehow, to see to another distant castle where a young boy has a similar tower to do the same goal.
There was something wonderful about this story, although I will admit to not understanding how a nameless boy off in the distance could be considered her new friend. What I did find engaging, however, was that a) the princess needed more than just being coddled, she wanted to see the world around her, and b) she followed her dream, devised a plan, and brought that dream to life.
In a world of helicopter parents, it was good to see that Lila refused to be held back. Lila also highlights the fact that living in isolation is no way to live, even if you have all of the basic comforts of life, a life without love and friendship is a life half lived.
Princess Lila is a great twist on the common princess story. She is a modern day princess who is intelligent and knows that if she wants something done, she has to be a part of the process. A great book to encourage young girls to do more than just look pretty.
* Note – I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in return for my honest review.