The Daring Prince Dashing

Prince Dashing is daring—he bathes in a crocodile-infested moat, he eats while dangling upside down from the tallest trees, and he toasts his s’mores by dragon’s breath. Most of the kingdom looks on in horror, but the prince is about to meet his match.

The night of the royal ice cream social, there’s a loud ZING-BOING that comes from outside the palace. A girl walks in holding a pogo stick, but when Dashing demands to see it, she’s already bouncing off across the room to eat her sundae on the nearest tightrope. The party rages on as the prince catches sprinkles on his tongue and the girl balances waffle cones on the tip of her nose. Dashing roller blades across the grand piano; the girl does a backbend and plays Fur Elise” with her toes.

At the stroke of bedtime, the girl hurries off—without her stick. A blindfolded Dashing ventures out through groups of thugs and past toothy crocodiles, determined to find the stick’s owner. Many creatures try the stick, but none are able to re-create that perfect ZING-BOING. It’s not until the girl sees FOUND: STICK-THINGY on a poster that she realizes Dashing has her stick, and now she’s off to retrieve it. This Stickerella isn’t waiting around for her Prince Charming, but the two adventurersare destined for a future of fearless fun and friendship.

Marilou T. Reeder received a Barbara Karlin Grant letter of merit in 2009. In 2010, she was awarded the SCBWI Pocono Mountain Retreat author scholarship, for writers who show exceptional promise. When she is not writing for children, she keeps busy with freelance business and technical writing. She currently resides in Wayne, Pennsylvania.

Karl West is a freelance illustrator, doodler, and full-time coffee drinker. He produces both traditional and digital work from his studio in Dorset, England.