Princess Baby

by Karen Katz

Poor baby, no one calls her by her real name! “I am not a buttercup, or a giggly goose. I am not a cupcake. Please don’t call me Little Lamb, and never ever Gum Drop,” she insists. With a curtsy and a twirl, again and again our protagonist makes it abundantly clear who she is. She wears a shiny crown, a fancy dress, sparkly shoes, a velvet cape, and glittery jewels. There are more clues too—she dances with princes, has perfect manners, and makes sure that everyone in her kingdom is happy. Her persistence pays off in the end, and even the youngest readers will be cheering, “Princess Baby!”

Want more Princess Baby? Don't miss  Princess Baby, Night-Night  and  Princess Baby on the Go!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Princesses, Storytime, Fiction, Kids, Realistic Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 8, 2008

About the author

Karen Katz has written and illustrated many books for children, including The Colors of Us, Can You Say Peace, My First Ramadan, Counting Kisses and Where is Baby's Belly Button. Long inspired by folk art from around the world, she was inspired to write her first book, Over the Moon, when she and her husband adopted their daughter from Guatemala, and she wanted to tell the story of welcoming Lena into their lives. Katz loves to paint and experiment with texture, color, collage and pattern. Besides an author and illustrator, she has been a costume designer, quilt maker, fabric artist and graphic designer. Katz and her family divide their time between New York City and Saugerties, New York.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/karenkatz

Reviews

[Jessica Calaway · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 - 5 years

[Luisa Knight · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hmm. There are a lot of words to this story - a lot more than seems appropriate for a board book. And I can't say as I like the attitude of the little girl. She doesn't like the nicknames her parents give her, gets a grumpy face and insists on being called a princess.

Ages: 2 - 5

**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar.

[Eva_Amaré · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like Karen Katz may have written this book for me, because everyone around here calls me these cutesy names when they should really be curtseying and saying your majesty. Liked pointing out all the subjects of the kingdom and am completely fascinated with the sparkly crown. Signature bright and busy illustrations for the win.

[Daniel Barrows · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cute book, and the golden crown is convincingly sparkly as if it were a different material. I find the protagonist a little demanding when insisting that she not be called nicknames.

My cover says Princess Riana, but I'm confident that it's a different edition of the same book because the description on the copyright says Princess Baby.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate this author as an author of books for babies. I like the style of her baby drawings and the simplicity of the stories and relatability for small children. My daughter enjoyed her books as a baby and toddler.

[Andrés · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was prepared to not like this book because I don't like the princess motif, but the narrative arc is compact and there are lots of objects and colors to hold interest. I also don't really like the baby's attitude, but there's probably still something to be gathered from reading.

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kids, even the 5yo boy, REALLY liked this one.

[K is for Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Call me by my real name

Very nice story, pretty pictures, my granddaughter enjoyed the book. Hard to write ten more words to this review. Okay!

[Goshen PL Childrens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read at Storytime on February 5, 2020
Them: Fairy Tales- Prince and Princess Stories

[Marisa Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This bedtime book has been reached for so many times by both of my daughters (now 5 and 2) and although they are outgrowing it, they still love it over and over again.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute, and you better call the baby by her correct name.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how this book has the Princess asking others to call her what she wants to be called. That shows strength. I also loved all the pet names mentioned in this book! So cute!

[Little Seesaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me chuckle, because we all call children so many different pet names. It really must be somewhat confusing. I love how this little girl wanted to be called baby princess. :)

[CLesp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am giving two thumbs up on behalf of my 'princess baby', sugarplum, gumdrop, sweetie pie and all things sweet and wonderful.

[J.M. Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Princess Baby is relatable on a spiritual level

[Dena McMurdie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pretty cute. Baby is getting called all sorts of names (names that I call my children!) but she doesn't want to be called any of them. All she wants is to be called by her real name.

She provides a bunch of clues as to what her real name is and then reveals it to her parents and the reader. If I were to be really picky, I could say that I didn't like the way she demands that her parents don't use affectionate nicknames for her. This may seem silly, but I am constantly trying to teach my own daughters to be respectful and talk nicely to others. Having Princess Baby yell at her parents to use a different name undermined those efforts. But, like I said, I actually did like this book and thought it was pretty cute.
Books for Kids

[Roxanne Hsu Feldman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a fun book. I especially love those images where the young child (not a baby, right, since she is talking fairly clearly and since she is so MUCH LARGER Than the cat....) is shown to be in costumes that embody all kinds of nicknames: gumdrop, little lamb, buttercup, etc. Too bad that the title of the book is the "surprise" at the end of the "tale" which makes the page-turning waiting period of the whole entire spread not as effective as would have otherwise. (Thinking maybe the book should be called, "Don't Call Me Buttercup" or something like that... then the surprise would have worked!)

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed by Me for Kids @ TeensReadToo.com

Poor baby! She's been called everything: Cupcake, Buttercup, Little Lamb, and even Sweet Gumdrop.

Hasn't anyone noticed her shiny crown, fancy dress, sparkly shoes, velvet cape, glittery jewels, or royal wand? What will it take for her parents to call her by her real name, Princess Baby?

Toddlers will be enchanted by the feel of the glittery, sparkly crown on the cover of PRINCESS BABY, and will find a reason to giggle as baby tries to set things right where her name is concerned.

Beginning readers will have no trouble with the easy text, and will have a fun time reading this alone or having it read to them as a bedtime story.

[S.j.reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt a connection to this story simply because I am that adult...that mother that spent forever picking out the perfect name for her child only to replace it with the various nicknames (sweet pea, pumpkin, little man (i have boys too), princess, etc). And my kids have been that little girl, refusing to respond to the nickname or getting upset if I used someone else's nickname on them. The story is simple and cute. The girls I read it to enjoyed it. For me, it will probably be a one-time read.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Someone gifted the big book version of this book to the children's department at the library. I translated it into Spanish, as well, and it could even be translated on the fly since it's not too long. It's a cute, funny book that would work well for a story time about names, dress-up, or "me, myself, and I"/self-esteem themes. The pictures are bright and big, too, which is also a plus for story time. (I think even Good Night, Good Knight would make for a companion story. I'm already coming up with ideas for a fun "royal" theme as a I write! A crown craft...!)

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

We can be a little wary of princess culture for our little one, and generally keep it to a minimum (or let her take the lead anyhow), but we got this as a gift from my sister and Luna chose it as her bedtime book a few nights ago and has been choosing it ever since. It's just the right length and gives us a lot of chances to be silly and cute with it, so she will have us read it a couple of times before she's bored of it. Highly recommend for her age group (1.5 years). She has a ton of books but I really need to find more board books with 'stories' about this length.

[kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

awww, I'm anti-over the top princess stuff, but this was pretty dang cute

[Gwen the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the wonderful baby maestro Karen Katz comes this pink, sparkly little gem all about the nicknames and sweet nothings we use on our loved ones. "I'm not cupcake or little lamb or gum drop!" says our little baby. She's Princess Baby! And she shows us what a good princess she is. With her signature adorable illustrations, this is a new hit from Katz.

[Emily Beeson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute, girly book...but since I like to call my little princess everything from cupcake to little lamb, I'm a tiny bit afraid that this book will make my daughter insist on being called only Princess.

A baby keeps insisting that everyone call her by her real name, which turns out to be, you guessed it...Princess Baby.

[Hope]

I had problems with the audience for this book. The pictures make it seem very young, but the narrator/MC's voice was too precocious. It didn't sound like a kid at all. Plus, the market is flooded with pink princessy books...this one doesn't add anything to the collection. I enjoyed Katz' other more age-appropriate books (Where Is Baby's Belly Button, etc.) much more.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would be very cute to give to a toddler girl, and to read it to her. Although the book somewhat has a bias lok on females and portrays that little girls have to be princessy, it hits home run with names and identity. Not everyone loves to be called "honey" and "cupcake", but rather they want to be recognized for who they are!

[Kathleen Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another brick in the princess culture castle, which is why I gave it only four stars. I thought it was quite cute and funny and, if girls weren't sold/told to be princess everything and nothing else, I would have happily given it an emphatic five stars. The illustrations are some of my favorites of hers.

[The Library Lady · Rating 2 out of 5]

Karen Katz's books are all a bit icky-sticky and this one has a definite tang of saccharine.
That said, it's going to be ridiculously popular. But if you want a much better new princess book, I'd go for Karma Wilson's wonderful Princess Me.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved it! pink all around. story of a girl who doesn't want to be called cupcake and gumdrop...but instead wishes to be called princess because she dines with princes and has wonderful manners. girls enjoyed it too.

[Dianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book confused me. It seems that it should be for babies, since it's about a baby, but it's not a board book, and there is too much text on most pages for a baby's attention span. And the baby acted more like a three- or four-year-old.

But the pictures were cute. Very.