The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale & Dean Hale

Hale, D. and Hale, S. (2014). The princess in black. (L. Pham, Illus.) Candlewick Press.

The Princess in Black is between a Level Three and Transitional. Most of the characteristics match Level Three but I would mark it as in-between because the content feels slightly more advanced and the book includes chapters. The words and their structure are what would mark it at Level Three with no more than eight words per line and fifteen lines per page. Pages with only text only take up about twenty percent of the book, but there is never a full spread without illustrations. These illustrations are often decorative, never really necessary but more used to break up the text into smaller looking parts. Most of the illustrations are smaller and placed in the middle of a page of text describing a reaction or action. They are more placed to bring the story to life rather than help define the text which is what brings the book up to a Level Three.

This book also gets more advanced by including chapters and content that can hold its own without the illustrations which is why it also falls into the Transitional Level. Each chapter is only a few pages long and provides its own short story with a mini plot that is easy to follow. Chapters never exceed ten pages and often focus on a single character, though the character does change from chapter to chapter, sometimes focusing on the Princess in Black and other times on the monster, Duff, or the Duchess. The changes in prospective are another reason why I would consider this book as Transitional as well as Level Three. The illustrations help the reader keep track of the perspective as well as the third person narration. The vocabulary is not too complicated but does include words that may be new to a young reader like “amiss” and “pasture.” These words are also examples of the text using more words with multiple syllables. This characteristic goes for the proper names of the characters and settings as well. Overall, the book could fit directly between the two because of the many illustrations and inclusion of chapters. 


 

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