Hellobee

We’re launching a new regular feature where we highlight individual children’s book authors and their best books. Because Olive is currently obsessed with all things Pinkalicious, I thought that would be a good place to start. When she was about 2 1/2, the pink princess gene started to kick in, and now at age 3 it’s full-blown. Since I’ve never been a pink or princess gal myself, I resisted the Pinkalicious books for a long time to be honest. But I really wanted to encourage Olive to read more and to read longer stories since she’s never been as much of a bookworm as her older brother. I thought it would help if I could get her into some books that really captivated her — she doesn’t have too many books of her own because she’s always read Charlie’s hand-me-down books.

We’ve read a bunch of Pinkalicious stories now and Olive never tires of them. I think they really helped her enjoy reading for much longer periods of time, no matter the book. It used to be hard to get her to sit through too many books, and now she happily sits through 8 before bedtime each night, and I get tired before she does!

Pinkalicious, 2006
Author: Victoria and Elizabeth Kann
Publisher’s Recommended Age Range: 4 – 8 years
My Recommended Age: 3+
Grade Level: Preschool – 3

There are currently 5 books in the Pinkalicious series including Pinkalicious, Purplicious, Goldilicious, Silverlicious, and Emeraldalicious. The sixth book in the series, Aqualicious, will be coming out this March. There are also over 20 shorter early reader Pinkalicious books for kids 4+, but they’re great as read alouds as well for the younger set. Magazine and newspaper illustrator turned author Victoria Kann co-authored the first two books in the series with her sister Elizabeth, and then went on to write and illustrate the rest of the books on her own.

Victoria was inspired by her two daughters’ love of cupcakes and the color pink to write Pinkalicious. In the charming story, Pinkalicious eats too many pink cupcakes and comes down with pinkititis, which turns her pink from head to toe. Pink being her favorite color, she couldn’t be more delighted. But she soon discovers downsides to being pink and when Pinkalicious eats one too many pink cupcakes, she turns red. The only cure to return to normal is to eat lots of green vegetables.

I have to admit that I wasn’t too happy with the book the first time I read it because Pinkalicious sticks her tongue out at her mom when she’s denied more cupcakes, and green vegetables are described as “yucky” and having to be “choked down.” But Olive was instantly smitten with the book, and it really grew on me. I omitted reading any parts of the book that referred to green vegetables in a negative way. And if you can overlook the poor manners shown below, I think this is an entertaining book with beautiful illustrations that most kids 3 and up are sure to love, especially if they love pink and princesses. My favorite line in the book is, “You get what you get and you don’t get upset.” I say it all the time now and it really resonates with Olive! Pinkalicious is definitely the best book in the series.

(image via harpercollins)

Y O U  T U B E

Since Olive loved the first book in the series so much, I looked into purchasing subsequent books, but mixed reviews had me hesitating on which one to get next. Whenever I want to check out a popular book before purchasing it, I search Youtube because many popular children’s books have read alouds and I can see the entire book on video; some of them are even animated and really well done! Charlie and Olive love to watch them too. I found the entire Pinkalicious series on Youtube and watched all of them. Here they are if you want to check them out. There are also videos for some of the Pinkalicious early reader books as well.

• Pinkalicious
• Purplicious
• Goldilicious
• Silverlicious
• Emeraldalicious

P U R P L I C I O U S

Purplicious has a number of negative reviews because unlike Pinkalicious with its frothiness, Purplicious is much darker. In the story Pinkalicious gets bullied for liking the color pink for most of the book, with a resolution coming in the last couple of pages. She eventually learns to stay true to herself and doesn’t change who she is to fit in. While I would have liked more of the story devoted to conflict resolution, I do think that the book can be a good springboard for talking about difficult subjects like bullying. Unfortunate as it is, Charlie experienced some bullying when he first started public pre-k. At the age of 3 I think Olive is too young for this book, but maybe I’ll reconsider it when she’s a little bit older. I definitely think that this book is better suited for kids that are at least 5, which is the recommended age for the book.

G O L D I L I C I O U S

As an adult reading this book, I think Goldilicious is the weakest one in the series because there isn’t really a plot — it’s about random adventures that Pinkalicious has with her imaginary unicorn Goldilicious. The story does encourage using your imagination, and perhaps that resonates better with younger children for whom a stronger plot isn’t as important. I’m pretty sure Olive would still love this book and as always the illustrations are gorgeous.

S I L V E R L I C I O U S

I purchased Silverlicious because it’s probably the second best book in the series with an entertaining storyline. Pinkalicious loses her sweet tooth and along with it her ability to taste sweets. She writes a letter to the tooth fairy who is too busy, so she’s visited by Cupid, the Easter Bunny and an elf instead. Pinkalicious does display some of that aforementioned brattiness, but eventually she learns that sweetness comes from within and when she starts showing grateful behavior, the tooth fairy visits and leaves her some Silverlicious chocolate that she can finally taste. This is a bit longer than the other books, so while Pinkalicious is easy to understand for younger toddlers, Silverlicious may be better suited to the 4+ set.

E M E R A L D A L I C I O U S

In Emeraldalicious, Pinkalicious and her younger brother Peter find that their favorite park is filled with trash. With the help of a magic flower wand and some spells, everything turns green and they’re able to create wonderful things out of trash. Like Goldilicious this book doesn’t have that much of a storyline. But as usual the illustrations are wonderful and I know that Olive would love looking for all the objects that combine together to form things like castles and thrones.

One of the criticisms that I’ve read about Victoria Kann’s books is that Pinkalicious often displays bratty behavior. I agree with some of those criticisms, but I omit those portions of the text when reading. I think that Pinkalicious is probably the best behaved in Emeraldalicious.

P I N K A L I C I O U S  C O L L E C T I O N S

There are over 20 Pinkalicious early reader books that are 24 pages in length (the original Pinkalicious series books are 40 pages). We own The Pinkamazing Storybook Collection which is a great deal because it has 6 stories that are sold as individual paperbacks in one hardback book for $10. The stories include: The Pinkerrific Playdate, Pinkalicious and the Pink Hat Parade, Pinkalicious: Flower Girl, The Princess of Pink Slumber Party, Pinkalicious: Soccer Star, Pinkalicious and the Pinkatastic Zoo Day. All of these stories have positive messages. The only problem is that I always have to read all 6 in one sitting!

I recently ordered The Princess of Pink Treasury which is a collection of 5 stories: School Rules, Pinkalicious and the Pink Drink, Pink Around the Rink, Tickled Pink, and Pinkie Promise along with activities for each story and a cd of the stories read aloud by a little girl. We also have Pink of Hearts, which is about Valentine’s Day, and some of the other holiday-themed books look great as well.

If your little one still can’t get enough Pinkalicious like Olive, we also own this two-sided 24 piece floor puzzle. The pieces are huge, thick and easy to put together, and you get two puzzles in one. The scene above is from Goldilicious, and a cupcake making scene from Pinkalicious is featured on the other side. At 3 Olive can do this easily now, so I’m definitely thinking about getting one with more pieces. Puzzles have been amazing for independent play for Olive!

(image via stageandcinema)

There is also a live-music Pinkalicious musical right here in New York that tours across the US. I’m definitely going to have to take Olive because she was mesmerized when we recently went to Disney on Ice.

Finally check out the Pinkalicious website for lots of activities, games and an email newsletter!

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Admittedly these are not the most compelling children’s books, but they are beautifully illustrated, whimsical, fun and likely to captivate the little pink lovers in your life. I give Pinkalicious 3.5 out of 5 stars because Olive loves them so much!

Are you a fan of the Pinkalicious books? I think the next series I’d like to read to Olive is Fancy Nancy!