Rani’s Remarkable Day

Rani is a beautiful Indian princess living a lavish lifestyle in a glamorous palace, but she is bored. Because her mother and father are busy with royal duties and her brother is just a baby, she sets out to find someone to play with. She asks the Prime Minister to play with her, but he is too busy with important, life-changing, stupendous tasks. Since everyone is busy, Rani, against the Prime Minister’s advice, decides to go to the beach with a picnic lunch and her baby brother.

At the beach, Rani attempts to make a sand castle, but she has little success. A girl she meets at the beach declares she can do better. At first, Rani is annoyed, but the girls join forces against the waves, the birds, the crabs, and especially Baby to make a glorious sand castle.

Rani learns that, by taking a risk against loneliness and by working together, she had her very first perfect day because she made a friend. She couldn’t wait for tomorrow because her new friend was coming for dinner.

The author has chosen a simple story to show the importance of making friends and how to make them. The full-colour, full-page illustrations in cartoon format complement the text. All the characters, the clothing, the palace decor, and furnishings are East Indian. Little girls of colour can see themselves in this story, and all children will relate to the themes of loneliness and friendship.