Pretty Ugly by David Sedaris, illustrated by Ian Falconer. Toon, 2024. 9781662665271
Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 5
Format: Hardcover picture book
What did you like about the book? Anna Van Ogre was a well-behaved monster: she stomped on flowers, threw dirt into the house, and made terrible faces. But one day, she makes a really scary face and it sticks! Anna Van Ogre is stuck with the face of a sweet little girl with pigtails, rosy cheeks and heart-shaped lips. Yikes!
Readers will cackle over this one. Anna, of course, is a hideous ogre, and she is the apple of her family’s eye. Her ogre family is like all others, and they still love Anna when she is a despicably pretty girl, because, as her grandmother says, “Real beauty is on the inside, sugar…” Who hasn’t heard this adage? This classic story where bad and good are inverted has a gasp-inducing kicker at the end, when Anna figures out how to solve her prettiness problem. The book 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. This is one of Falconer’s last projects, before his untimely death earlier this year.
Anything you didn’t like about it? No, but youngsters who have liked Falconer’s other books, such as the Olivia series, may be too scared by the images at the end of this one.
To whom would you recommend this book? Elementary school kids who like wicked humor. This would be really fun to read to a third or fourth grade class.
Who should buy this book? Elementary school and public libraries
Where would you shelve it? Picture books
Should we (librarians/readers) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? Yes
Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City and State: Stephanie Tournas, Robbins Library, Arlington, MA
Date of review: October 14, 2023
Youth Services Book Review 
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