Every royal's must-have guide to the holidays

A princess always knows how to celebrate the holidays. There's Christmas, Hanukkah, Yule, Chinese New Year, Saturnalia . . . to name just a few.

Then there's gift giving, the royal Genovian Fabergé Advent calendar, hot chocolate with marshmallows—oh, and all those fabulous holiday movies. How will you celebrate this holiday season? Mia and her subjects have a few ideas.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Mia and subjects from the #1 New York Times best-selling Princess Diaries series will tell you how to have a jolly holiday no matter what you celebrate. Sparkly and present-sized, this illustrated book from Princess Mia's point of view features the fabulous, fashionable art of Chesley McLaren and the ever-hilarious wisdom of the Queen of Teen, Meg Cabot.

FROM THE CRITICS

Children's Literature - Susan Hepler, Ph.D.

A "Princess Diaries" book. In various voices of advisors, friends, relatives, and hangers-on of the Princess Mia, holiday information is conveyed. Readers can learn about manners (from the dowager, Grandmere, Princess of Genovia), some interesting ways to use makeup (Paolo, the palace cosmetician), and worldwide holiday traditions from the world-traveling princess herself. The giving of gifts rather than the receiving is emphasized and Mia's breathless and contemporary-sounding teenage voice makes the information slide down like a spoonful of sugar. Her offerings are set off in bracketed red type face for easy browsing. McLaren's grey watercolor illustrations with red touches lend a festive and feminine look to these pages and the handy size of the book is just right for a middle school girl to slip into her backpack to read on the long bus ride home. 2005, HarperCollins, Ages 8 to 14.