Story Spinners: A ­Sisterly Tale of Danger, a Princess, and Her Crew of Lady Pirates

Gr 2-4–Kennedy and Devon are forever-fighting sisters (FFs) who only have three things in common: they love stories, pizza, and have a third younger sister who shares their room and isn’t sleep trained, leaving both sisters sleep deprived and even grumpier than usual. Their fights reach new extremes, leading to their electronics being taken away. To prove to their parents that they can work together, Kennedy and Devon craft an elaborate story to help baby Eve fall asleep. Unfortunately, they can’t agree on anything—should their main character try to find true love or adventure? Enter Princess Sparklepuff, sneaking out of her castle to a dragon-filled volcano, blending both sisters’ interests into one epic journey. Federman uses rotating colors for the fairy tale’s speech bubbles, helping readers track which sister is adding each new story element. Keen-eyed readers will be delighted when they discover what is happening in the background of Federman’s panels, as baby Eve makes her own contributions to this adventurous tale. The overall result is a good choice for fans of the “Babymouse” series, or for readers who aren’t quite ready for the more nuanced sibling drama found in books such as Varian Johnson’s and Shannon Wright’s Twins or Megan Wagner Lloyd’s and Michelle Mee Nutter’s Squished.