about the book
For Harriet Hamsterbone, royal life is dull. She has to spend her days trailing around the palace looking ethereal and sighing a lot.
At least when she plays checkers—like all hamster princesses do—she can practice fractions (“‘I’ve taken seven-eighths of your pieces. Do you want to give up?’”)
Harriet spends as much time as she can riding quail Mumfrey around the countryside pretending to slay monsters. Apparently slaying dragons is not very princessly.
When her parents tell her that she was cursed at birth to prick her finger on a hamster wheel and fall into a deep sleep when she’s twelve, it’s the best news she’s ever heard! She’s invincible until she’s twelve!
What adventures will she get into? After all, no good curse goes to waste.
about the author
You know those kids with a million stuffed animals? Well, Ursula Vernon was one of those kids. She had absolutely no need for dolls.
She was also something of a rebel. Since her mom was an artist, Ursula had to become a scientist. Her degree in anthropology is evidence of how long she waged her rebellion. When she was almost done with her degree, her mom finally badgered her into taking an art class, just one. The rest is history.
Ursula has written and illustrated a popular webcomic, Digger, the Dragonbreath graphic novels, and is always working on new stories.
If you ask her where she gets her quirky ideas and why her characters are animals, she’ll tell you she has no idea! She just hopes she can pull everything together in the end because she makes up everything as she goes along. As for the animals, you can blame all the stuffed animals and the fact that they’re easier to draw than humans.
When Ursula’s not writing and drawing, she loves birding and gardening.
Throughout her life, Ursula has lived all over the United States. Currently, she’s settled in North Carolina with her husband, beagle, border collie, and a collection of cats.
Sources:
Author website
Author interview: Publisher’s Weekly
Author interview: Deborah Kalb
Author interview: Grasping for the Wind
Also by Ursula Vernon:
Hamster Princess : Of Mice and Magic (Hamster Princess, Book 2). Dial. March 2016.
The Dragonbreath series. Dial. 2009-2016.
Castle Hangnail. Dial. 2015.
Nurk : The Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew. Harcourt Children’s Books. 2008.
read more!
Hamster Magic by Lynne Jonell
Celia is tired of being the youngest and smallest Willow child. When she finds and traps a magical hamster that can grant wishes, her wish to be bigger turns to disaster—and she ends up a giant furry hamster. The other Willow children must find a way to return Celia to her normal self…before their parents find out what happened!
Hamster Princess : Of Mice and Magic (Hamster Princess, Book 2) by Ursula Vernon
Princess activities such as brushing hair and singing duets are so BORING! When a fairy tells Harriet about twelve mice princesses who are cursed to dance all night, she’s so relieved that she sets off right away on her battle quail. Can Harriet help her fellow princesses or is this curse too tough to slice?
My Zombie Hamster (Book 1) by Havelock McCreely
Matt wanted the latest video game for Christmas, but got a hamster instead. All Snuffles does is eat and sleep—then dies and rises up a zombie! When Anti-Snuffles escapes, other animals around town start to disappear. Can Matt and his friends hunt down the evil hamster before it turns all pets into an undead army?