Blog Tour: Sir Princess Petra's Mission by Dinae Mae Robinson (Children's, 9 years +, Novel Extract)

The all important website is here

Today's post is a stop on a blog tour for the latest book in the fun Princess Petra series. While I had reviewed one of the books in the past, Blogger gremlins have removed it. (I know I read it because I ran a competition, which I did find, just not the review.) Anyway, here is the info for the book, as well as an extract. I thought I knew how to include a PDF to a Blogger post, but I don't. Hence the not amazing pictures of the chapter start and an illustration which I took so you have an idea of what the book is like inside, with official pictures both before and after the extract. Enjoy! 

Book Summary

Sir Princess Petra has already attained her knighthood in the Kingdom of Pen Pieyu and her non-princess-like talent certificate from Talent School, neither of which pleases her father and mother, the king and queen. The king writes up more silly rules in the royal rule book to deter Sir Princess Petra from her knightly ways and useless talent, and turn her into a real princess once and for all. Will the king finally succeed with this newly written, ridiculous mission for Petra? 

Princesses make amazing knights!

You can find out more on Dinae's website, and please do enjoy the book extract below! 

I wonder what they are trying to blow down?

Extract pages 27-32 of Sir Princess Petra's Mission by Dinae Mae Robison

Apologies for the quality, it's the best I could do.

 Petra awoke to the sound of the royal councilman’s bugle, again. She hastily dressed in leggings and tunic still damp from her friendly sundown-wrestling match with Letgo, the crocodile, and scurried down to the royal throne room. 

The royal councilman was whirling around in his manic flurry of the third early-morning summoning event in six full moons. He located the royal rule book under the queen’s throne, touched it like it was on fire, hastened to open it to page 111, then skidded the open book on the stone floor to land up near the king’s feet. The king gave him a royal-councilmen-are-ashilling-a-dozen glare. 

“Father, Mother, you summoned me?” Petra rolled her eyes when she noticed the rule book was even thicker than last she saw it. 

“Yes, my dear princess,” the king said with an amused grin, running his finger down the page to find the spot. 

Petra sighed. 

The king spoke loud as he read out, “It is hereby written that all certified Princess Knights—meaning you—must accomplish the hereby-stated royal seal-of-approval mission before the next two moondowns. Hence if the

 hereby-said should fail this royal seal-of-approval mission, which is of the utmost importance to the well-being of the shareholders of Kingdom Pen Pieyu—meaning me and the queen—the hereby-said Princess Knight will henceforth be required to relinquishment of the hereby-noted knighthood to the full completeness so as to render it none and never was. Also, by fail, forfeit, or giving up on this mission, the certified Princess Knight will henceforth deem the by-default bog witch’s knighthood—meaning Bograt—null, none, and never was.” The king gave the page a quizzical look, mumbled for a time, then raised his head and broke out his half-moon grin while taking up the confused queen’s hand. 

Petra crossed her arms and gave him her best I-hate-that-royal-rule-book stare with her right eye, while her left eyebrow rose to convey the it-doesn’t-even-make-sense arch. 

 “Silence!” the king ordered and continued to read, louder this time, “The hereby-said certified Princess Knight’s mission will be to venture into the unventured land of the Boogy Gobees, alone, and capture the first notorious-fabled car-panther she encounters and henceforth, whereupon a successful mission, deliver  first notorious-fabled car-panther creature she encounters to the Kingdom of Pen Pieyu.” 

Petra felt like streams of steam were about to sizzle out of her ears. “That’s the most ridiculous rule yet—it is poorly written, does not make complete sense, and also, you just recently made it up. There has never been a certified Princess Knight before me and previous to six new moons ago, nor a by-default bog witch knight before Bograt and previous to three new moons ago. Besides that, what or who is a car-panther? And what exactly do you mean: go alone to capture a car-panther?” 

Just then, Snarls entered the royal throne room with a shiny silver tray of steaming teas and aromatic pine nut crumpets. Startled by Petra’s last words, he dropped the tray and heaved out a misguided fire breath that grazed the top of the queen’s bouffant hair.

“Car-panthers are vicious scallywags, said to have saw-blade teeth, stiffened with iron on the tips for good measure,” Bograt stated as she sauntered into the room. “Cut the moat bridge right in half and kings with bad grammar into fours.” She gave a wink toward Petra. 

“Stop that nonsense jabber at once!” the king shouted while still bopping at the queen’s head. Finally succeeding to make for her a much smaller smoldering hairdo, he continued, “Alone—it means by oneself, no other person, et cetera, et cetera.” 

Petra marched over to the royal rule book, flipped back to page 101, and traced her finger along the words until she found the segment she was looking for. “Well, Father, this particular rule, written by you several full moons prior, states: ‘All knights may choose their own steed. All steeds will willingly accompany their knights. All knights will stick together.’ And it has the royal seal of approval, which, of course, means you sealed it yourself and your new rule cannot alter a previous sealed rule.”

 The king’s bottom lip sagged and twitched and looked like it might fall off. The royal councilman’s eye’s flashed open wide; he turned and ran.