I Can Build It!: An Acorn Book

Princess Truly #3

by Kelly Greenawalt, Amariah Rauscher (Illustrator)

Princess Truly is a great inventor! With her magic, sparkling curls, she can build anything from a Brushy-Brush machine to a super-cool, turbo-boosted racing bike for her little brother. But when Truly and her sidekick pug Sir Noodles discover that the animal shelter is all out of treats, it's time for their biggest invention yet... the Super Snack Machine!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fantasy

48 pages, Hardcover

Published March 3, 2020

Reviews

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julianna and I took turns reading this book last night. She gives it 5 stars. I chose it because she likes the character Princess Truly and Julianna likes to build things. One book we read, by same author, was I am a Super Girl. She enjoyed this book too, she says because Princess Truly was helpful and built lots of things and even has magical curls. I think it was cute story & cute pictures to keep a child interested. I also like how it shows that in order to build, it showed Princess Truly having an idea, drawing up plans, getting all her tools, and building all sorts of interesting things or helpful things with her hands.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Princess Truly likes to build things and to be helpful. In this sweetly illustrated story of very short chapters in rhyme, that is what she does when her magical curls shine.
Chapters:
Truly Great Ideas,
Super Cool Racers,
The Super Snack Machine.

[Erica Alyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love reading this to my 4 year old she loves it.

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really cute one - the machines are funny and the message of being smart and a capable builder/inventor is such a good one.

[Armando Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Princess Truly is very smart and loves to build things. She describes how she makes plans for ideas that she comes up with. Whenever she has an idea, she draws out her plan. Next, she gathers all her tools. Finally, she begins to build with her hands. This is my favorite part of the story because it gives young children a blueprint for coming up with ideas and executing their plan. Her little brother comes to her with a problem. His bike is too small and he wants to ride with her. Truly has a big heart and she helps out her brother. She adds training wheels to his bike and also makes a turbo booster on the side of his bike so that he can pretend to go fast. Her problem solving skills help her brother feel special and he is soon riding with his big sister. Princess Truly is an inspiring story for both boys and girls and it gives a blueprint for how to build their ideas. This story also talks about kindness and helping others with those bright ideas. Princess Truly came up with a plan to help her brother ride his bike with her.

[Yycdaisy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. I did like the concept that girls can be inventors and builders. It started out strong. She shows how she comes up with ideas and puts them into action. Next we see several machines that Princess Truly made that seemed in the realm of possibility. Then she goes into a lot of detail building a racing bike for her little brother and another for herself. This is where I didn't like a story element. For some reason her hair starts to have magical curls and she has rainbow power that allows their bikes to fly. Yeah, I get it that it's just her imagination, I just didn't think it needed to be spelt out this way and would have preferred that the author let the reader come to that conclusion without a 'magic' explanation.

[emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Can Build It! is an empowering and fun easy reader, recommended for 1st grade readers. In rhyming text Princess Truly, supergirl, uses her magic glowing curls to build things, including a bike for her brother, who has outgrown his old one, and a super snack machine. This book reinforces that gender and gender presentation and various skill sets are not exclusive. The beauty in this book also lies in Princess Truly’s textured hair that glows. It is so deeply important that young Black girls can see themselves represented as both as feminine as they would like to be, and smart, with their hair- often discriminated against- as valuable, useful, and beautiful. We can be all things, at once.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Princess Truly uses her magical curls to help create inventions that help herself, her family, and her local pet shelter.

A cute rhyming story about an inventor who likes to help others. The text is pretty simple, and the illustrations and concepts will draw readers in. I like Truly's relationship with her little brother. Recommended to little readers who want a spark of magic and some great brains in their characters.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Princess Truly likes to build things with the stuff she has. She shows us around her workshop, builds a super fast racer bike for her brother, and then builds a snack machine for the animal shelter!

I love Truly’s imagination! My son loved looking at all of the inventions she made! I read this aloud to him, and we’ll definitely be requesting the other book in this series from our library!

[Tin Cheung · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great first chapter book for readers; each pages has a couple of sentences and there is rhyming too.

Truly shows her inventor side with her skills of problem solving with helping her brother, Ty with his bike or creating a snack machine for Sir Noodle and friends.

[Marcie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this as a great beginning reader and do love the strong female role. I think it is great for beginning readers, but the rhyming somewhat makes me reluctant to use it as a read aloud. I'm sure it might make.

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute story about a young girl who magics her way into building whatever she dreams of making! It's an inspiring story for younger readers who also maybe dream of building big things! Main complaint is the verse feels a bit off-metre for what I like, so it's less rhythmical when read aloud.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very sweet easy-reader book. Nice characters and cute stories.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Princess Truly introduces us to her imaginative inventions (most of which are imaginary) in three short stories.

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Princess Truly builds a super snack machine for Sir Noodles, so he doesn't go hungry.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

We enjoyed the rhyming text, brevity, and positive can-do attitude of Princess Truly!

[Rachael Belt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for early readers, or readers who need a confidence boost. Super positive message and cute artwork. I'll definitely be grabbing more of these for my beginner reader

[Ron Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute easy book that promotes curiosity.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun beginning reader!
A confident inventor solves the problems she finds and helps others.
This would make a great read aloud.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't give my 7 year old daughter any trouble.

[Hillary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent prompts at the end for parents to keep the story going! How to draw and a write/draw their own story!