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A review by bibliofilth
Disney Mulan's Adventure Journal: The Palace of Secrets by Rhona Cleary
2.0
2.5/5
I do feel like an angry old man yelling at a cloud by rating this mostly inoffensive children's book less than 3 stars, but I'm doing it anyway.
Pros:
+More Mulan content! She's one of the characters in the Disney Princess lineup that doesn't seem to have nearly as much merch or stories as others, so I always love seeing more of her.
+We get to see Mulan in an unfamiliar situation, out of her depth. The themes sort of reminded me of that direct-to-video sequel (I know, I'm sorry for bringing up the Disney sequels).
+More Grandma! Grandma is a main character in the story, and she adds a lot of humor.
+There's a nice theme about not judging someone by your first impression of them.
+The art is PERFECT. The main style is very cute and expressive and matches the tone of this story perfectly. It's also paired with beautiful ink drawings in Mulan's journal entries.
Cons:
-Mulan doesn't really feel in character in here She's quite passive in this story. On the one hand, we're seeing her in a new situation so it makes sense. On the other hand, it's frustrating that she's not using her strengths really and at several points is actually hiding in the story.
-The premise of this is...fine, but again, it doesn't really allow Mulan to show off her strengths. She basically just lucks out near the end when she puts all the pieces together, rather than using her skills like she does in her movie.
-I'm unsure on the age range of this. On the one hand, the themes and dialogue are extremely simple and suited for a younger age, as is the idea of everything we see in the cartoon panels being repeated in the diary entries. But younger kids would struggle to read this because of how text-heavy it is. That uncertainty made me unsure how hard to be on it - I'm not going to come down on something intended for 4-6 year olds for not having the Mulan in character because it's trying to tell a more simple story, but if it's for older kids I think that's a valid criticism.
-We briefly see Mulan's friends from the movie at the beginning, but then they're gone just as quickly. I would've liked to see more of them! That could've been a fun setup to have them accompany her in the palace.
I do feel like an angry old man yelling at a cloud by rating this mostly inoffensive children's book less than 3 stars, but I'm doing it anyway.
Pros:
+More Mulan content! She's one of the characters in the Disney Princess lineup that doesn't seem to have nearly as much merch or stories as others, so I always love seeing more of her.
+We get to see Mulan in an unfamiliar situation, out of her depth. The themes sort of reminded me of that direct-to-video sequel (I know, I'm sorry for bringing up the Disney sequels).
+More Grandma! Grandma is a main character in the story, and she adds a lot of humor.
+There's a nice theme about not judging someone by your first impression of them.
+The art is PERFECT. The main style is very cute and expressive and matches the tone of this story perfectly. It's also paired with beautiful ink drawings in Mulan's journal entries.
Cons:
-Mulan doesn't really feel in character in here She's quite passive in this story. On the one hand, we're seeing her in a new situation so it makes sense. On the other hand, it's frustrating that she's not using her strengths really and at several points is actually hiding in the story.
-The premise of this is...fine, but again, it doesn't really allow Mulan to show off her strengths. She basically just lucks out near the end when she puts all the pieces together, rather than using her skills like she does in her movie.
-I'm unsure on the age range of this. On the one hand, the themes and dialogue are extremely simple and suited for a younger age, as is the idea of everything we see in the cartoon panels being repeated in the diary entries. But younger kids would struggle to read this because of how text-heavy it is. That uncertainty made me unsure how hard to be on it - I'm not going to come down on something intended for 4-6 year olds for not having the Mulan in character because it's trying to tell a more simple story, but if it's for older kids I think that's a valid criticism.
-We briefly see Mulan's friends from the movie at the beginning, but then they're gone just as quickly. I would've liked to see more of them! That could've been a fun setup to have them accompany her in the palace.