****The Princess and the Pizza

by Mary Jane and Herm Auch

Reviewed November 21, 2002.
A Sonderbooks' Best Book of 2002 (#1, New Picture Books)
Holiday House, New York, 2002.  32 pages.
Available at Sembach Library (E AUC)

I’ve always enjoyed twists on fairy tales.  I loved this tale of a princess who needs a job.  Paulina’s father has given up his throne to become a wood-carver, but he’s not very good at it yet.  So she joins the competition to marry Prince Drupert.

The competition has some expected phases—the pea, the shoe. Paulina can’t believe they’d try things so once-upon-a-time.  When it comes down to a cooking contest, a princess with very long hair trips her up, and she’s stuck with some unlikely ingredients.

This book is delightful fun.  Paulina’s a feisty and resourceful heroine.  In the end, we all root for her nontraditional choice.  And they all live happily ever after.

Review of another book by Mary Jane and Herm Auch:
The Plot Chickens

Copyright © 2003 Sondra Eklund.  All rights reserved.

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