Horn Book

Dad's amusing thought bubbles reveal his dread of daughter Alice's abundant ideas for their snowbound day ahead. Once Alice decides they'll make a book, the engaging story-within-a-story features King Alice and her "royal brave knights" on adventures that resemble the biracial family's activities: mealtimes, princess tea, unicorn party, and more. Cordell's loose-lined mixed-media illustrations capture the imagination, mayhem, and love in this family.

Kirkus Reviews

King Alice lays down the law when her family is snowbound.After anointing herself King Alice ("You mean…Queen?" Sir Dad asks; "No! KING!"—but this is not a book about overturning gender norms), the pint-sized monarch decides she and her father will make a book together. With a little nudging from Mom, their story begins with "King Alice the First and the royal brave knights having breakfast." Chapter 2 continues it with a princess tea party. And so the day goes, with a red-bathrobe-clad Alice moving from activity to activity as her beleaguered father tries to keep up (at one point Alice abruptly begins Chapter 5: " ‘What happened to chapters 3 and 4…?' Dad wondered pointlessly") and her mother takes care of the baby and feeds the family. Cordell gets the aimlessness of a day without structure perfectly as well as the elliptical, arbitrary composition style of a young child in Alice's writing. Unfortunately, the result is a rather aimless plot, one that seems to place Dad's frazzlement at its center rather than Alice's ebullience. Cordell's characteristically scratchy illustrations depict a happy, mixed-race family (Dad presents white, Mom has brown skin and black hair, and the two children have light-brown skin and black hair) in a comfortably messy house. Alice's metafictive story appears on faux lined paper and cleverly mirrors the events of the day.Sweet and loving characters can't quite make up for a lack of plot. (Picture book. 4-8)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Alice-s father emerges foggily from his bedroom one morning to greet his daughter. (She, her mother, and baby sibling have brown skin, while the rumpled dad has white skin and Fred Flintstone-style stubble.) -Morning, Alice,- he mumbles. -KING Alice! The First!- she corrects. It-s a snow day, and after casting about for amusements, the two laboriously write and draw a book about King Alice, chapter by chapter, leaving it (-Okay, I-m bored now-) and coming back to it (-IDEA!-) throughout the day. Caldecott Award-winner Cordell (Wolf in the Snow) mimics child-style print and crayon drawings for a tale that features knights, pirates, and unicorns. Alice-s story-and her story-s story-get their laughs from close observation. Cordell knows how children speak (-I-m so, so, so, so, so sorry I bonked you with my unicorn, Daddy-), what they like to do (-Let-s make... super-sparkly strawberry muffins again!-), and how their stories sound (-King Alice yelled, -This is some delicious tea!---). Readers will treasure their time with Alice-s father, who allows his daughter to be exactly who she is, and King Alice, who leads her family on adventures even when they don-t leave the house. Ages 3-5. (Sept.)

School Library Journal (Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

PreS-Gr 2 King Alice (as she insists on being called) is considerably more excited about being stuck inside on a snow day than her father is. Nonetheless, he gamely goes along with her demands for his constant attention while Mom tends to the baby and everyone's nutritional needs. The king and Sir Dad compose and illustrate an extensive chronicle of their pursuits from tea parties to pirate battles to unicorn stampedes. The best fun here is in Cordell's cartooned illustrations of the biracial family who never get out of their pajamas until bath time. King Alice crayons the visuals of her story on lined paper while Sir Dad transcribes her text. In the framing story, readers see their real world setting complete with burping baby, ginger cat, and a floor strewn with toys. From the first spread of the unshaven father, yawning and scratching his butt while his daughter informs him that she's to be addressed as "King Alice the First," kids will know that they are in for a wild ride through a little girl's fecund imagination. That Sir Dad is such a willing accomplice (but not a complete pushover) makes this cozy story a delight to share in multiple readings. VERDICT This delightful book-within-a-book will inspire domestic mayhem while enduring a snow day. A must-have. Miriam Lang Budin, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY