Roy L Hinuss - Prince Not-So Charming: Once Upon A Prank

Prince Carlos Charles Charming is the youngest in a long line of Prince Charmings. But he’d much rather grow up to be a court jester. He dreams of juggling fire while riding a unicycle instead of fulfilling his princely duty.

Get ready for royal antics and laughs galore with this exciting pick for kids diving into Key Stage 1 reading books.

Genre: fairytale, funny, friendship

Themes: Dragons, jokes, pranks, identity, responsibility, bravery

Age: 6-7 years old

Prince Not-So Charming: Once Upon A Prank by Roy L Hinuss book cover

Activities

  1. Prince Carlos struggles with being next in line to his kingdom, and wants to follow a different path. Write Carlos a postcard with advice to help support Prince Carlos make a decision on what to do next. Can pupils keep the advice unbiased? What sort of things should they ask Carlos to consider? Can they keep their wording supportive? (CC: PSHE, English)
  2. Being a jester isn’t just about telling jokes, you often have to perform! Can pupils come up with a short funny act to perform to the class? This could be jokes, a funny story, a piece of acting or a skill such as juggling! Pupils can get as creative as they like! (CC: Drama, sport)
  3. When Prince Carlos meets the dragon he isn’t what he expects! Ask pupils to think up their own dragon and what they hope they would be like. What do they look like? What hobbies or skills do they have? How do they sound? Pupils could draw, paint or craft their dragon and add labels to explain the dragon’s characteristics. (CC: Art, DT)
  4. There are lots of events that happen in this story, could anything have happened differently? Ask pupils to choose one part of the story they think could have gone different and rewrite it themselves. Which part did they choose? How are they changing it? Why are they changing it? How will it affect what happens in the rest of the story?
  5. Create a gingerbread character for one of the characters. On the inside describe their feelings, thoughts and emotions and on the outside describe their actions, behaviours and what they say. (CC links: English, PSHE) (Use ‘Gingerbread character’ resource)
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