Book Review - 'Rosalina's Storybook' by Nintendo (Creator), Dark Horse Books

A sweet, soft, sad, whimsical, wistful, woeful, and beautifully, lushly illustrated little storybook/picture book.

I can definitely tell now that Rosalina's story from 'Super Mario Galaxy' was inspired by 'The Little Prince'; only this cosy yet existentialist sci-fi fairy tale for all ages has a little princess protagonist.

I'm not really a gamer - my brother is the big gamer of my family, and it is originally, mainly through him where my knowledge of Nintendo and 'Super Mario' games (and the movies, but that's another thing entirely) comes from. It is through him that I know of Rosalina, whom I am a fan of.

Rosalina is probably my favourite Nintendo character (whenever I am player two with my brother, I always pick her as my playable character in the 'Super Smash Bros.' and 'Mario Kart' games). She's like Princess Peach with a compelling, interesting personality and backstory. She's a mentor, and a ruler and leader - a ruler and leader of the cosmos, even. She is not a damsel in distress. And she's a magical space princess with star powers. She's a cool female character, is what I'm saying.

It is because of my admiration of her that I decided to check out 'Rosalina's Storybook', for real. As in, it's a real, physical Nintendo product, and not just from a Nintendo game as an interactive cutscene.

The book, which tells the tale of Rosalina's origin, is enjoyable, and sad and kind of bittersweet, like I said. Poor Rosalina (or "the girl" as she's called here). But kids need to learn from sad stories in their lives, from time to time. As well as being creative, 'Rosalina's Storybook' is surprisingly deep, well detailed, thoughtful, introspective, thematic, dramatic, and cosmically existential. There are themes of space exploration, family, friendship, loneliness, and grief. It certainly does not talk down to its audience.

I am not as interested in the Lumas as I am in Rosalina herself - she's a great, complex character in her own right. Not just a mother of Lumas, or a princess (of what exactly, I'm not sure. Not every female character has to be a princess, Nintendo, get with the times. Though at least she's not anyone's girlfriend).

Rosalina is a star, too. A stellar cosmopolitan.

So I do recommend 'Rosalina's Storybook' for fans of 'Super Mario Galaxy', and of Rosalina. I even recommend it to non-gamers, such as myself. It's a good, well crafted, well planned space fairy tale, containing universal, adult themes.

Final Score: 3.5/5