Princess Puffybottom ... and Darryl

Author: Susin Nielsen
Illustrator: Olivia Chin Mueller
Genre: Picture Book, Canadian, LGBTQ
Pages: 36
Source: Local Public Library
Publisher: Tundra Books
First Published: February 5, 2019
Opening Lines: "Princess Puffybottom had the perfect life."

Book Description from GoodReads: Princess Puffybottom has the purrfect life among her adoring subjects. All is well...until an intruder arrives in her kingdom. Surely he will be banished soon. Or could he be here to stay? 

Princess Puffybottom is not amused.

My Rating: 4 stars

My Review: Reading the title of this new picture book alone - Princess Puffybottom … and Darryl - put a smile on my face. And then seeing that Susin Nielsen wrote the book? That's the squeaker in the proverbial chew toy.

This is a story about family, and I especially love it when different families are represented in picture books (all books, really). In this case, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Princess Puffybottom and, of course, wee Darryl, have two moms (who are also people of colour). This isn't the focus of the book, obviously, that goes to her Highness Princess Puffybottom and her canine intruder. Instead, they're just a regular ol' family dealing with two mischievous pets and I loved that.

This is a cute picture book filled with diverse characters and beautiful, detailed illustrations that add much to understanding the overall plot.  Princess Puffybottom ... and Darryl is a fun read that shows the differences and issues that even our fur babies can have with each other, but the overall message of family and acceptance is one that I hope families take away from this beautiful picture book. While it was shorter and had a simpler story than I prefer in a picture book, I liked that the ending leaves an opening for future books.