Review by Booklist Review
A potentially didactic story by children's media veteran MacHale (the Pendragon series, Nickelodeon's Are You Afraid of the Dark?, etc.), is saved by a wry text ( These maidens were precious as twelve-carat gems. However, this tale is not about them ) and endearing illustrations of Lala, a young, furry, brown monster from underground who wishes to become a princess. The trick played on her by three real princesses (dressing her up for a ball only to ridicule her in public) is cruel but rings true to those familiar with the social-pecking-order playground antics of young children. Lala's fluffy green hair, eager grin accented by two delicate fangs, and irrepressible spirit make her a creature kids will root for, even before she uses her monstery skills to save the princesses from a scary beast. Although heroically rescuing those who've tormented her may seem unrealistically optimistic, the resolution satisfies: they're all friends in the end, with each remaining true to herself.--Foote, Diane Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Yearning to break free of her life underground, Lala, a young monster with scaly arms and lettuce hair, heads for a mountaintop castle, where she endures public humiliation at the hands of three princesses ("You're a monster forever," they jeer. "Now get out of here!"). The next day, using her insider's knowledge, she rescues the three from a brute with "sour beast-breath," but declines to befriend them even after gratitude makes the princesses relent. Boiger's pastel paintings play up the contrast between the princesses' charmed existence and Lala's comfy burrow, and while MacHale's (the Pendragon series) verse-like his heroine-is a little lumpy, he delivers his message about handling mean girls with sincerity. Ages 4-6. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Horn Book Review
A below-ground-dwelling little-girl monster named Lala, who longs to be a princess, creeps into the castle where three princesses dress her up. She's humiliated at a ball but ends up saving the day. Boiger's illustrations, contrasting the pinky princess world and Lala's brown-as-dirt reality, are effective, and MacHale's rhymes are jaunty, but the be-yourself message is deafening. Copyright 2010 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
(Picture book. 5-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
