Pretty Ugly

Delighted young audiences ... will be demanding repeat readings

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.)

Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

★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 

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 

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

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