A humble little wren makes the lonely princess happy again when he sings a song full of all the wonderful words he's been collecting in his nest.
When the birds in the palace garden realize the princess is sad, they decide to offer their best to make her smile again. The peacock tries first, proudly displaying his beautiful plumes, but the princess barely lifts her head to look. Then the magpie brings silver and gold, but she only asks him whose jewels he stole. A banquet from the kingfisher, the jackdaws' aerial show -- nothing helps. Then the wren perches on her balcony and sings a soothing story full of all the happy words he's been collecting. "Please never leave, little wren," the princess says, "and I shall never be lonely."
Rachael Mortimer is the author of
Sammy's Surprise Deliveries,
Snoring Beauty, and
The Three Billy Goats Fluff. She lives in London with her husband and their two daughters.
Maddy McClellan is the illustrator of The Princess and the Pets, Kit the Cat, Dig the Dog and Other Stories, T'wit T'woo, and many other picture books. She lives with her husband and their two sons in South Downs, England, where she works in an old flint barn, visited daily by the odd chicken or duck.