26. Princess Cora and the Crocodile by Laura Amy Schlitz

Illustrated by Brian Floca
Listened on Audible AND read the BOOK
2017 Candlewick Press
74 pgs.
Mid Grades Fairy Tale
Finished  3/21/18
Goodreads rating:  4.01 - 1029 ratings
My rating:  4

First line/s: When Princess Cora was born, her mother and father thought she was as perfect as a snowflake."

My comments:  I purchased this book through Audible for a ridiculously low price - can't remember how low, but like maybe 99-cents.  Because I've loved everything I've read by Laura Amy Schitz previously, I couldn't pass it up.  Oh, does Davina Porter read this beautifully!  She has the easiest-to-understand British accent and is just a joy to spend time with.  The story is adorable, but I really think that I need to see the illustrations - that's the only problem with an audio book that has illustrations.  So I won't make an actual review of this until I have sat down with the book itself and take in the pictures.  5/5 I have done that now.  They've really fun.

Goodreads synopsis: A Newbery Medalist and a Caldecott Medalist join forces to give an overscheduled princess a day off and a wicked crocodile a day "on." 
Princess Cora is sick of boring lessons. She's sick of running in circles around the dungeon gym. She's sick, sick, sick of taking three baths a day. And her parents won't let her have a dog. But when she writes to her fairy godmother for help, she doesn't expect help to come in the form of a crocodile, a crocodile who does not behave properly.

MOVIE- Beauty and the Beast

PG (2:09)

Wide release 3/17/17

Viewed 3/21/17 at Carlisle 8 with Ella
IMBd: 7.9/10

RT Critic:  70  Audience:  86
Critic's Consensus:  With an enchanting cast, beautifully crafted songs, and a painterly eye for detail, Beauty and the Beast offers a faithful yet fresh retelling that honors its beloved source material.

Cag:  3.5 Liked it, especially the music

Directed by Bill Condon

Walt Disney Pictures

Emma Watson, Emma Thompson, Kevin Kline, 

My comments:  I was really looking forward to this, and took Ella after dinner at the bar at Applebees.  We settled into our comfy reclining seats with great expectation.  Was it as wonderful as we expected?  Unfortunately, not for either of us.  I loved the music.  And the actors.  But the animated spectaculars dragged on and on for me.  Ella got scared in a couple of places.  She told me she was going to have nightmares, and covered her face at one point.  So afterwards, in the car, I asked her about it. Spoiler alert:  In the scene where Belle and the Beast are transported back to Paris where she was born and her mother died had no meaning for ten-year-old Ella.  She didn't understand any of it, and the picture of the doctor with what she described as a "duck mask" was really, really creepy to her since she didn't understand the context.  She told me she felt much better after I explained what a plague was, did, and why they had to get the baby out of there fast. Emma Watson is adorable, and I loved Kevin Klein as her father.  But yes, unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  The fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle's enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast's hideous exterior and realize the kind heart and soul of the true Prince within.