Illustrated by Jules FeifferHoughton Mifflin Books for Children, 2010
HC $16.00
186 pages
for: Middle grades
Lexile: 870L
Ages 8-12
Rating: 4
This is a very cute fairy tale, written craftily with all sorts of word play and a great deal of alliteration.
Princess Patricia Priscilla is worried about her 16th birthday the next week when she'll have to chose a husband, one of three horrid choices. Counts who are conjoined twins who argue incessantly, a fat, ugly, rotten-toothed Duke who spits whenever he speaks, and an oily-haired narcisist whose dandruff is dusted away by men hired for only that job. And she's bored. So she decides to spend the next week as just plain "Pat," sneaking out of the castle to attend the local school incognito. There she meets the school teacher, a kind young man, and befriends all the village children.
It's a typical story told in a descriptive, jolly way, leaving us all, naturally, cheering in the end when all it's wrapped up tightly and well. A quick, fun read.
I've never been particularly fond of Jules Feiffer's illustrations, and I didn't like them in this book. They don't help the picture in my mind at all, they make it much more comical than the imaginative reality that I like.
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