A Royal Fairytale: Kate and William by Ink Robin and Adam Larkum

Egmont, 2013. ISBN 9781405268431. pbk.
While the world waits and the souvenir factories go into overdrive, Ink Robin brings us this picture book for littlies that tells the true story of a prince and his princess, how they met, fell in love, had a wedding that the whole world watched and then kept waiting for THAT announcement.
Written really well with the traditional 'once upon a time' start and the 'happily ever after' ending in a style that echoes 'handsome prince meets and marries beautiful commoner girl' stories of a bygone era, this tale not only tells the story of he who will be king when our little people are old enough to understand what that means (even though he might not be king of Australia then) but it also keep every little girl's dreams of becoming a princess alive. Two Miss 7's who shared it with me had very satisfied smiles on their faces at the end.
Apart from its connections to the events in London that have the media in a frenzy (and the bookies making a mint), this book could also be used as an introduction to biography genre and a creative teacher librarian could construct a curriculum of rich investigations ranging from exploring the nature of biographies and their essential elements; seeking ideas for collection development through identifying who the students would like to know more about and writing these stories; delving into the history of the monarchy and its relationship to and impact on Australian lives; to considering and debating whether Australia should become a republic. Rich pickings indeed which begin with 'Once upon a time' for the reader and lead to 'happily ever after' for the teacher and teacher librarian wanting something a little different.
Barbara Braxton