But wait!
While rummaging through my local bargain book bin I found this little beauty. I picked it up simply for the beautiful cover, but oh my am I glad I did. Are there really few things more exciting than stumbling across a new and amazing book? Something you should know about me...I'm a book snob. I mean grade A, fine toothed comb, must be flawless book snob. This rule applies not only to the adult sized novels I read, but probably even more so to the books I decide to share with children. I guess I take it a little seriously that I might be garnering a love of reading every time I sit down to storytime. I can still remember the way I felt about certain books as a child, as if they were magic. I know without doubt that illustrations have helped carve the way I see the world. I know Dr. Seuss helped me grow a love of words and ways to use them, I know Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs helped mold the stretches of my imagination, and I know that Theodore Mouse Goes to Sea sparked a light of adventure in my soul. Like I said, I take books very seriously. In my dream classroom I don't own a single book that I don't believe will nurture some expanse of my students minds. When I choose books now it's with an empathetic mind, always asking myself if I were a kid, would this book stick with me? Does it have the magic? The Monster Princess by D.J. MacHale, brings me back to that place. The writing, complete with beautiful rhyming, has an old school fairy tale feel to it. It weaves a story with an actual plot (something difficult to find these days), and ends with a moral that almost chokes me up (but then again I'm a sap). The best part about it? It's a story about mean girls, a theme that I feel is cropping up sadly early in children's lives now a days. How many pre-school teachers can already identify queen bee's in their classrooms? Sad but true, these small diva's sometimes boggle me with their aptitude towards adolescent cruelty. Which brings me back to the book, where a small monster (Lala) attempts to live her dream of being a princess among the three sisters who live in the castle. At first they seem kind as they dress and make her up for the ball that night. But when she is humiliated during her grand entrance she realizes that she was really only the butt of their cruel joke. She flees back to her underground home only to venture out one last time to return the dress they lent her. As she is traveling back to the castle she stumbles across a monster even larger and more fearsome than herself who is about to eat the three princesses. Thinking quickly Lala distracts him so that the princesses might escape. Afterwards they are so grateful they tell Lala that she indeed is a princess and may live in the castle with them. But Lala says thanks but no thanks, she's realized she's happy being just who she is and would rather return home.
This book is as beautifully illustrated as it is written and provides a lesson I think we are never to young to begin learning. Even though I don't have a lesson for it yet, I did ask several questions while reading. Was it nice for the princesses to trick Lala? How did it make Lala feel? I have to say I was almost surprised to see the sad faces on my students as Lala was humiliated at the ball. They felt for her, and their answers showed their disappointment in the three princesses. I would love to one day find a full blown lesson to go along with this story, but for now it will simply have to be happy with a permanent spot on my classroom shelf.
Be kind to each other
and Teach on!
