“The Monster Princess” – By D.J. Machale & Illustrated by Alexandra Boiger

“The Monster Princess”
By D.J. Machale
Illustrated by Alexandra Boiger

This story is about the most adorable little, green haired monster I’ve ever seen. This gentle sweet little girl is named Lala, her mother calls her “my star who shines bright”, and she lives in the ground, in the dark tunnels, and collects krinkle nuts with the other creatures of her kind called rugabees. She is the best krinkle nut gatherer there is. She’s brave and quick. But she longs for a much more glamorous life then the one she’s use too down here in the ground. She wants to be a princess, beautiful, graceful and loved by all! She finally leaves her home to go to the castle where she meets the 3 young beautiful princess. They have the most horrible plan to “show her, who she is”, they primp her up and present her at the royal ball where everyone laughs and hides their faces in disgust at the sight of such an ugly creature. Lala runs home in tears, but being the good girl she is, knows she has to return to the castle to give back the sink gown she ran away in. I wont tell the rest of the story, only that she does earn the respect and love of the awful spoiled princess who were so mean to her before. And Lala realizes, she’s been loved and beautiful all along and goes back to her home more brighter than ever! I thought parts of this story were just so horribly awful, I think I even started to cry at times. All girls know what that’s like. To want to be a part of the “in crowd” and some of us know what it’s like to be trashed by them. I thought this was a great story to show all girls how they are beautiful, and princesses in their own way and that no matter what “beauty” or possessions you may have, you’ll never feel loved and beautiful until you love yourself for who you are. If you do that, you’ll be happy no matter what. And I think that’s a great moral to embed in the hearts of all girls everywhere. I was drawn to this book because of the art work. It’s water color and it’s whimsical, creative, and beautiful. The story rhymes and at times feels kind of Dr Sues with it’s made up words at times. In all, I liked it a whole lot and think moms and daughters should read this one together and talk about inward beauty as well as outward beauty.