When I saw The Carnival Prince I said, “Self, try it.” And Self said, “No, it looks odd. That cover is too big…too bold…too bright. Too computer-made-looking.” And I said, “Self, just read, okay? You know not to judge a book by its cover.” And Self said, “Fine.” And did. Then it said, “You know what? That wasn’t half bad.”
And it was not half bad. It is a nice solid 3 or 3.5. I did not WOW best book ever. But I did say, That was fun. And you will probably say that too, when you read Daniel J. O’Brien’s picture book about a magical child and the Caribbean world of Trinidad and Tobago. We follow the “stubby antlered boy” (who was created first by a loving embrace, then hatched full grown) watch the Carnival in town year after year, not brave enough to join in. That is not until the year there is mayhem afoot!
We see how cleverness and working together, mixed in with the boldness of the country and the carnival atmosphere, comes alive. We see how a small boy and a man become friends, stopping an evil entity. There is one small part that might be a bit much for the young readers (the dragon is said to have cut off the tail of the monkey for monkey tail soup, but it is not shown). The more possible trip up is the story, while told in rhyme and that flows nicely, the language of the people is used and that could be a bit awkward at first. But soon you can get into the dialect.
Overall, the illustrations are fun, boldly colored, and not fluffy, but are not serious either. They are perfect for the story and are detailed well. I did have two questions that were not completely answered (who the fantastical creatures are who are said to be the child’s parents, and why are there three eggs and what are the other two things that hatch from them), but that does not take away from the book itself.