Prince Prickly Spine - Tekeyla Friday - ★★★★

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AUTHOR: Tekeyla Friday
ILLUSTRATOR: James Warwood
GENRE: Children's Chapter Book, Adventure.
PUBLICATION DATE: November 10, 2023
RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: A humorous children’s chapter-book about a lazy prince forced to go on a rescue mission and the misadventures he has along the way. A definite recommendation to fans of David Walliams and Dav Pilkey.


Plot Preview:
Twelve-year-old Evert, the prince of the realm of Medievaldom, is unlike every prince you might have read about in fiction. He is lazy, he hates baths and cleanliness, and he shirks his ‘princely duties’. The only thing he enjoys is playing video games. The Queen, totally fed up of his “unprincely” qualities, takes away his screen access, until he goes on a rescue mission to save Princess Amelia from the Shadow Dragon’s cave. Evert obviously refuses with a variety of excuses, but moms are moms, and he has no choice but to follow her dictate, especially if he wants to play his beloved games again. All he has for help are his royal steed Cosy (who isn’t exactly cosy) and his fairy godfather, a troll named Joe. How exactly will this rescue mission work?
The story comes to us in Prince Evert’s first-person perspective.


Think of the wild craziness in the stories penned by David Walliams and Dav Pilkey! They are obnoxious and over the top and even gross, but many kids enjoy the silliness of the plots. This Canadian indie book contains a similar kind of humour that little ones will laugh out loud at.

The story is a parody of typical fairy tales where princesses patiently wait to be rescued by their noble prince. It turns the entire traditional narrative on its head and thus offers a laugh-out-loud experience to children.

Medievaldom seems to be a strange mix of medieval (with horses and kingdoms and rescue quests) and modern (with pizzas and video games and electronic devices and GPS.) The quirky combination makes the story fun. Nothing about the story is typically royal.

Prince Evert, his less-than-princely preferences, his laziness, and his utter lack of personal hygiene are the key target of the jokes. It is entertaining to read about a prince who finds swords boring except when they are a part of his video game and who can’t even mount his horse without the help of a supporting stand. The icing on the cake is that his godfather is a troll, and not really good at magic.

Only one thing spoiled a little bit of my fun. A key misadventure that the prince faces – that of his turning into a porcupine – is revealed to us through the book cover and the title. However, this incident doesn’t occur until a little ahead of the halfway mark. It would have been a nice surprise to see the prickly prince suddenly turn into a prickly little porcupine, but the surprise is hampered by the premature reveal. I would have loved to be amazed at the transformation, but in the current scenario, I was just waiting to see when and how and why the prince became a porcupine. Of course, this might work differently for kids. They might look at the porcupine on the cover and wonder why it is being referred to as a prince, and pick the book to know more.

While this story is complete in itself, the ending establishes the foundation for the next instalment of the series. Looks like poor Prince Evert won’t be able to return to his video games any time soon!

The illustrations in this book are by the hilarious James Warwood, whose ‘Truth or Poop’ series have been the source of many a laugh in my house. His whimsically crazy sketches liven up the narrative further.

All in all, this is an amusing and atypical tale of an unlikely ‘hero’ and his mission. It is a fun ride with crazy antics and hilarious outcomes.

Recommended to children aged 6-9 who enjoy funny, magical stories. As a chapter book with mostly simple language, it also works well for children who are not so fond of reading but might be motivated by an entertaining story.

My thanks to author Tekeyla Friday for providing me with a complimentary copy of “Prince Prickly Spine”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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