Customer Reviews

The Princess and the Pizza

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A hilarious take on traditional fairy tales, "The Princess and the Pizza" is a very contemporary version of the eternal triangle - prince/princess/mean stepmother.

Princess Paulina was down on her luck. Her Dad had relinquished his throne to become a wood-carver, a task he had yet to master, and she missed princessing. Why, hardly anyone watched her do the royal wave.

So, when she found out that Prince Drupert needed a bride she was among the first in line. Regrettably she was in competition with twelve other wanna-be brides, and the Queen was extremely demanding. Nonetheless, Paulina didn't tumble for the old princess and the pea trick; she passed the essay and glass slipper tests with flying royal colors. But then, the greatest challenge of all, the remaining princesses-to-be must prepare a feast and the [others] would be beheaded!

Here's where ingenuity and a little luck come in handy. Paulina's pizza takes the prize, but is Prince Drupert such a prize after all?

The Auchs have created an original, laugh provoking tale with lots of twists before a satisfying ending.

- Gail Cooke

This book is an absolute hoot to read aloud to students or to your own child. My students range from average to gifted, third through fifth grade, and EVERYONE of them loves this book. The characters are very easy to "voice". Students also love to read this book to themselves. The illustrations just add all that much more fun. I'm buying two copies, since the library wants it back!

I bought The Princess and the Pizza because the reviews recommended it for ages 4 to 8. I think t is too mature for most younger readers and would be best enjoyed by 3rd through 6th graders. As an adult, I enjoyed the story, but didn't like the ending. Also, Mary Jane is a clever writer, but I did not enjoy the illustrations of Herm Auch.

Poor Princess Paulina. Her father, the king, gave up his throne to become a wood-carver, and she's really missing all the perks of princessing. So when she hears that Queen Zelda, of Blom, is searching for a wife for her son, Prince Drubert, she dusts off her tiara and heads for the castle. Paulina has no trouble passing the pea and mattress test..."That's so once-upon-a-time", or the essay on "Why I Want to Have the Gracious and Exquisitely Beautiful Queen Zelda for My Mother-in-Law, or even the glass slipper test..."For Pete's sake, you never heard of sneakers?" But the final task, cooking a feast worthy of a prince, is a bit more daunting. Especially when the other two finalists, a young lady with an impossibly long braid that drags across the floor and a girl followed around by seven funny looking little men, grab all the ingredients. Paulina is left with only flour, yeast, water, tomatoes and a block of stale cheese..... Mary Jane and Herm Auch have authored a wry and hilarious fractured fairy tale, starring a sassy and confident heroine, that's full of familiar characters and clever scenes kids will recognize from stories of the past. Her witty text is entertaining and engaging, and begs to be read aloud. Mr Auch's bold, bright and expressive artwork complements the story beautifully, and is full of wonderfully eye-catching detail. Perfect for youngsters 4-8, The Princess And The Pizza is a modern fairy tale, complete with a surprise ending with a twist, that's sure to leave readers satisfied, and with a big smile on their faces.

The Princess and the Pizza by Mary Jane Auch is a delightful tale of a clever princess who uses her wits to solve her problems on her own without the help of fairy godmothers or seven strange little men. The colorful & whimsical illustrations by Herm Auch are the perfect backdrop for this fun story.

What a fantastic book! It is original, clever, and funny. I like the plot, because although Princess Paulina misses parts of her life as a princess, she isn't bitter about no longer living in a castle and later tosses away the opportunity to be a princess again and enjoys life as a "commoner." I like the fact the drawings aren't of beautiful women, but more like caricatures.

My 8-year-old daughter gets all of the references to the other fairy tales and the accidental naming of "Pete's . . . ah" and enjoys the story. My 4-year-old daughter, who doesn't catch all of the amusing nuances, REALLY enjoys the story. It's been her favorite bedtime book to read every night for the past week, since we borrowed it from the library. It's like a Pixar animated film: the kids miss the adult humor, but everyone enjoys the movie.

The humor was good for adults and children. My Kindergarten class loved the book. It was also helpful in reviewing some of the fairy tales we learned previously.

The Princess and the Pizza is a modern take on a classic princess fairy tale - but in this one, the Princess isn't a demure, helpless and flighty female. She's strong and knows what she wants. I really enjoyed reading this with my 6-year old. What a great counterfoil to the typical princess stories. This one was clever, funny and very relatable with a great message - you don't have to be a Princess to achieve your dreams! Highly recommended for the 5-7 year set.

This book was too advanced for the just-turned-3-yr-old niece who I bought it for. However, the grandmother and aunt who read it to the child were very entertained by the story and writing. In a few more months, I'm sure the child will enjoy this book, too, and then it will get 5 stars.

This was a fun book. It had me chuckling from time to time. It actually could be used as a rough draft for a humorous speech project at Toastmasters. I suppose the fact that I would only consider it a "rough draft" for a Toastmasters talk is why it only got a 4 star from me. The illustrations are good and they don't detract from the text. But the text could have been better.

The story is about a young woman whose father used to be a king. She enters a contest where the winner gets to be a real queen's daughter-in-law. Funny thing about the story is that the young woman wins the contest, but decides she doesn't want to be a princess after all. In winning the contest she created what we know as pizza today.

I would have liked the book better if the story had been better planned out. When reading the story I felt like some of the content was inserted as an afterthought. As I read the book I felt a little like I was on a roller-coaster ride. It had peaks and valleys. I think kids will enjoy having this book read to them. And I know they will like seeing the pictures as it is read. 4 stars!