Sunday, March 17, 2013

The Duchess of Whimsy: An Absolutely Delicious Fairy Tale

De Seve, R., & de Seve, P. (2009). The duchess of whimsy: an absolutely delicious fairy tale. New York, NY: Philomel Books. 

Texas Bluebonnet Award, 2011 - 2012

In The Duchess of Whimsy, the Duchess is lively and beautiful and always the life of the party.  The Earl of Norm is in love with her, but she thinks he is too ordinary.  After a cook becomes ill and everyone has to pitch in to make food for a party, they all fail due to their extravagant choices, except for Norm who makes a grilled cheese sandwich and milk.  Drawn by her hunger, the Duchess asks to taste the sandwich, and she cannot believe how anything so ordinary could look so good.  She then begins talking to Norm and discovers they have more in common than she thought.  They grow closer, and she realizes that he does like some extravagant things like her, and she does like some normal things like him.  They end up spending forever after together and thought that each other were simply extraordinary.  Using a sense of humor and charming illustrations, this book teaches children the timeless lesson that beauty is only skin deep in a fairy tale format which so many children love. 
 


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