10/23/2023
This adapted fable by Sedaris (Me Talk Pretty One Day) and the late Falconer (the Olivia series), reworked from a Little Lit anthology comic, is now an elegant standalone that showcases the creators’ urbane morality. Anna Van Ogre is the apple of her monstrous family’s eye. “That’s our girl,” says Grandma when Anna talks with her mouth full of nails. But though the young ogre successfully stomps on flowers and tosses dirt into the family home, her penchant for making adorable “scary” faces (“I’m a bunny!”) is her undoing. Ignoring her mother’s warnings, Anna finds her features stuck in the scariest face of all: a plump-cheeked, wide-eyed, pigtailed human kid. “Real beauty is on the inside,” assures Grandma, but other ogres’ contempt results in the child running away, until Anna takes Grandma’s wisdom in hand, quite literally. Sticking her arm down her throat, she turns herself inside out, becoming a gorgeously grotesque creature—think Bruegel meets Tales from the Crypt—with beet-red, veiny skin, bulbous eyes, and wrinkly brain atop her skull. It’s a happy resolution for all, including any reader who craves a celebration of individuality with a high yuck quotient. Skin tones take the white of the page. Ages 5–7. (Feb.)
Most Anticipated Books of 2024 List, Kirkus Reviews
Most Anticipated Kids Books List - February, Barnes & Noble
★“Disgustingly hilarious….Adult readers will recognize hints of Maurice Sendak and William Steig and maybe even a smattering of Tim Burton in this remarkable outsider tale….Consider this little monstrosity a much-needed corrective to smarmy platitudes.” —Kirkus Reviews, STARRED
“[..] Demonstrates an appealing, Olivia-esque joie de vivre.” —The New York Times
“For every kid out there who HOPED their face would stick when Gramma said "If you keep making that face, its going to stick like that." Well, this one's for them." —Angie Tally, The Country Bookshop, Southern Pines, NC
“The kids you read this to …. will LOVE YOU for grossing them out in this way.” —Elizabeth Bird, SchoolLibraryJournal.com
“Clever + funny – your next read aloud. Hilarious.” –Imagination Soup
“A book with hints of William Steig and Quentin Blake and Roald Dahl….that’s going to make the kids you read this story to (and make sure it’s a group of kids for maximum effective) scream and laugh all at the same time. It’s gonna blow their little freakin’ minds and they will LOVE YOU for grossing them out in this way.” —Elizabeth Bird, SchoolLibraryJournal.com
“You’re absolutely going to love it – it looks ridiculous and gross and funny and wonderfully different to so much that we see in kids’ books nowadays.” —Comicon.com
“Sedaris fans will love PRETTY UGLY, a story that will spark conversations about true beauty, family and character. Illustrations are perfection. And honestly, who hasn't wanted to lock themselves in a wood shed for three days?!” — Jessica Nock, Main Street Books, Davidson, NC
“Delighted young audiences ... will be demanding repeat readings.” —Booklist
“The brainchild of the literary dream team we never knew we needed….this uproarious tale is already a classic.” —Kirkus Reviews
“I wish you could have seen my daughter’s expression at the reveal—equal parts shock and horror and delight—at the end of PRETTY UGLY (ages 5-7). I’m talking the kind of reaction that could fuel you for another year of reading aloud [...] that’s picture book magic for ya.” —Melissa LaSalle, @thebookmommy
“As children we have all been warned if we keep making an ugly face, it might just stick that way. Pretty Ugly explores this age old warning while teaching us that beauty comes from the inside and is often in the eye of the beholder.” —Manager, Octavia Books, New Orleans, LA
“For any reader who craves a celebration of individuality with a high yuck quotient.” —Publishers Weekly
“Readers will cackle over this one….displays the author’s wicked sense of humor. Falconer’s artwork perfectly channels the story with his simple yet masterful line drawings with a touch of color….for elementary school kids who like wicked humor.” —Youth Services Book Review
”Stresses that a person's true beauty is on the inside, not on the surface... with a gross-out ending that will make kids squeal as well as laugh. Kids raised on Goosebumps and Shrek will have no trouble enjoying a monster family that acts like a conventional human one — except opposite in every way but being loving and supportive.” —Common Sense Media
“Disgustingly hilarious. Hilariously disgusting. You can never tell where David Sedaris is going and that's what makes his work so charming.” —Jessica Lordi, Dover Free Library, VT
03/01/2024
K-Gr 2—This seems like a familiar, fractured fairy tale at first glance, but pushes its preternatural premise further with an unexpected and welcome narrative thrust. A family of ogres prizes their ugliness above all else, praising their pig-tailed, pointy-eared, wart-nosed daughter Anna for her poor manners and voracious hunger for hardware (she chomps on nails at dinner). Her most uncouth behavior, in their eyes, is making objectively adorable (or horrifying, depending on viewers' aesthetic sensibilities) porcelain doll-like faces. One day, her face sticks like that, and she's left rosy-cheeked and doe-eyed indefinitely, much to her dismay. After locking herself in the woodshed, she comes to that old chestnut of self-understanding: true beauty is found on the inside. In a flourish straight out of a horror film, she literally turns herself inside out, revealing the hot pink, googly-eyed, globby-brained monster lurking just beneath her saccharine exterior. And that's it! This simple story, clearly quirky from the get-go, still manages to shock in its final turn, so prepare readers to be slightly freaked. In his picture book debut, Sedaris's familiar mix of sentimentality and acerbic wit shines through without coming off as self-indulgent. Falconer's sparse, goofily grotesque illustrations leave large swaths of white space for readers to settle into the story, using a calm, sedate visual style to emphasize the contrast of the book's brash neon finale. VERDICT A slightly freaky fable for young readers eager and ready to leave the usually safe world of pictures books behind.—Emilia Packard
★ 2023-12-06
Beauty (and horror!) is in the eye of the beholder in essayist Sedaris’ disgustingly hilarious debut picture book, illustrated by the late Falconer.
Anna Von Ogre is usually a “good” little monster; she talks with her mouth full and stomps on flowers. Unfortunately, she’s also prone to “bad” behavior, such as making terrifyingly adorable faces. Though she’s been warned that someday one might stick, she ignores this advice, and the unthinkable happens. Stuck with the face of a kewpie doll, Anna is assured by her grandma that “Real beauty is on the inside.” But it isn’t until she takes that advice literally that she finds a fitting and grotesque solution to her problem. Sedaris shows a keen knack for page turns and timing. Adult readers will recognize hints of Maurice Sendak and William Steig and maybe even a smattering of Tim Burton in this remarkable outsider tale. Anna’s solution (to literally pull herself inside out) is rendered in hot pink, much in contrast with the subdued olive green and touches of red in the rest of the book. Be prepared for the shock of this image, sure to elicit both gasps of disgust and barks of surprised laughter. Kids will be transfixed. Adults should feel free to hand this book to anyone who feels picture books are too “safe” these days. Characters have skin the white of the page.
Consider this little monstrosity a much-needed corrective to smarmy platitudes. (Picture book. 4-7)
