The Birthday Ball by Lois Lowry and Illustrated by Jules Feiffer

Published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (An Imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Pages: 192

Ages: Middle Grade

Publishers Summary: Princess Patricia Priscilla’s sixteenth birthday is in one week. That means she has seven days before her birthday ball, and seven days before the moment when she must select a suitor to marry.

Oh, dear. Seven days is not a very long time, sixteen is not very old, and Princess Patricia Priscilla’s prospective suitors consist of a dirty duke, a foppish prince, and foul-mouthed conjoined counts.
Princess Patricia Pricilla is not terribly optimistic about the whole affair.

And so, with her cat Delicious in tow, Princess Pat sneaks off to join the peasant children each day at the schoolhouse in hopes of finding out just what she’s been missing before she must resign herself to a wretched future. But after meeting Fred, Nell, Liz the norphan, and a rather dreamy schoolmaster, Princess Pat wonders if perhaps the plans for her Birthday Ball might require one or two adjustments. . .

It’s just a birthday, right? For Princess Patricia Priscilla (PPP) her sixteenth birthday is more than just your average party with a few streamers. The kingdom in which she resides states a very clear and simple rule, “On her sixteenth birthday the Princess must choose a suitor with which to marry.” When Patricia “Pat” realizes not only the magnitude of this day, but also is informed of her choices she’s left with very little choice in the matter. With nothing left to lose, she escapes to the local schoolhouse to pretend to be a commoner for the week before her birthday. Little does Princess Pat know, this could potentially change the course of her life as well as the lives of those around her.

Many of my readers may know the author of The Birthday Ball, Lois Lowry, by her well known book, The Giver. An absolute favorite of mine, The Giver is nearly a standard in every middle grade to early high school classroom across America now. Well, The Birthday Ball is nothing like The Giver, nothing. That is unless you account for the writing, which is huge and equally as wonderful in both books. And though The Birthday Ball is a much more light hearted read, it still holds many beautiful lessons and offers quite a bit of room for discussion.

In The Birthday Ball the main character, Princess “Pat” has been given anything and everything she could possibly ever want. From clothing to food to education, you name it she has it. Her parents are good people, but have priorities of their own which don’t often include her. Because of this, by the time she is almost of marrying age she is utterly bored with life and desires an adventure into the unknown. Her encounters with the “common” people in her area bring to her an enlightenment that couldn’t have happen behind closed castle walls. Not only this, but possibly even a chance at lasting love.

There were a couple of things I wasn’t particularly keen on with this particular book though. Because Princess Pat must choose a suitor and an obvious change in character is to be made, the suitors were dreadfully horrible in the beginning. To be honest, before I knew how it ended it bothered somewhat me to see how negatively they were looked upon. By the end though it was nice to see how they were each able to come to realization of their individual beauty and be accepted by others for who they truly were. The other thing I didn’t fall in love with were the illustrations. I understand it’s supposed to be somewhat whimsical, but the “pencil” sketches weren’t my favorites. Though I have absolutely adored some of Feiffer’s other work, these illustrations just didn’t work for me.

A princess with a passion for discovery and the unknown lands herself in the midst of people she never thought she’d associate with and leaves a better person for it. Through a random and quite funny series of events Princess Pat is able to plan a Birthday Ball that will not quickly be forgotten by anyone in attendance. Another beautifully written novel by Newbery award winning author, Lois Lowry. This is the perfect read for middle graders everywhere, especially those with an affinity for princesses!

The1stdaughter Recommends: Ages 7-12. A perfect lesson on looking beyond the exterior to see what someone is truly about. Middle grade readers will adore another fantastic book in Lois Lowry’s collection.

This book was provided for review by the publisher, Houghton Mifflin Books for Children via NetGalley. Thank you!
Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our affiliate relationship with IndieBound.

©2012 There's A Book. All Rights Reserved.

We all leave our “footprint” on the world, in one way or another. We each, individually, do something or are someone that makes the world a little better just by being here. I created this weekly meme to get to know the blogging community I love just a bit better. To know what makes them tick, outside of books, that is. Each week I will post a question to be answered in the following week’s “A Bit of Me(Me)”. Check back each Saturday to get the info for next week’s post and link up with your current post right here.

I know, some of you are skeptical about putting yourself out there on the internet and I completely respect that. That’s the entire reason I have no desire to ever reveal the “real” names of The Turkeybird and Littlebug. In time, once they’re old enough, if they chose to do that on their own I will respect their decision. So, if ever during the time I’m doing this meme do you feel the question is just too personal for your liking, feel free to post something else, I never want anyone to feel uncomfortable with what they share and I promise it will always be “kid-friendly”. I mean, this is a primarily children’s and young adult site, you know?

So, let’s get started!

This Weeks Question: Tell everyone a little bit about your favorite Birthday.

For those of you who may or may not know I had an ulterior motive behind choosing this question. See yesterday (depending on when you’re reading this, Friday) was my 32nd birthday! Wahoo! Yep, I never thought I’d make it to this age, but I definitely have and I’m not going anywhere! Anywho…I picked the question because I thought it would be a little easier to think about memories from this day. Especially since I’m just not one of those “big birthday” kind of girls, you know? To be honest I think I’d almost completely forget about it if it weren’t for the wonderful people in my life.

So, thinking back I’d have to say one of the ever present and constant memories that stands out has to do with my mother. Obviously, I wouldn’t be here without her, quite literally. But it’s not just that. See, my mom is this incredible baker…amazing in fact. She even made our wedding cake:

When there’s a birthday to be had and my mom’s around there is always cake involved. One year I even requested my dad’s amazing homemade cheesecake, but it was still a “cake”. So, my mom, ever the baker made sure that my first birthday must have birthday cake of course and a party. I am, of course, the oldest and I’m sure it was quite the big deal as all first birthdays are. Well, it came time for the very important cake lighting/singing/cutting/eating and low and behold I was still napping. Being the important event that it was my mom got me up plopped me down in front of the cake, everyone sang to me and I promptly fell over face first asleep in my cake. I made it through the song, but just couldn’t muster the power to stay awake longer. And though I obviously don’t remember it I still think of it every time a birthday comes around.

If my mom (aka Chronicler) were nearby this year I know I’d have a cake, but because the hubby is not a huge fan (though he is a baker, just not a huge lover of cakes) there won’t be cake this year. But if I could request one this year, as we were always able to do growing up, I think I’d choose this one my mom made a few years ago. Doesn’t it look delicious?

Now, your turn! Link up below and tell everyone “A Bit of You!”

Next Week’s Question: What is your favorite cookie?
Have a question to add? I’d love some suggestions! Just leave them in the comments and I’ll see about adding them in as we go!

Also, feel free to grab either of the buttons for your own “A Bit of Me(Me)” post (or create your own), but make sure to link back to There’s A Book. (You can also resize these down to a smaller size if you’d like.)

©2012 There's A Book. All Rights Reserved.

The winners of Littlebug’s Birthday Bash!!!

The two winners, each receiving books of their choice up to $20 are:
Nicole of The Blooming Button
and
Shy of The Bibliophile’s Journal

The winners of the fabulous bookmarks (and a surprise, book from their comments) are:
Jenn of Book Crazy
Abbie of Abbie Rufener Photography
and…a third thrown in at the last minute!
Michelle of Michelle’s Masterful Musings

Here’s a little reminder of what we celebrated, this was taken just shortly after her birth a year ago:

Thank you again to everyone who entered! We had a wonderful time celebrating Littlebug’s 1st birthday. Don’t dismay, those of you who didn’t win…The Turkeybird’s Birthday is coming up next month and we’ve got something special in the works for that as well! So stay tuned!

All have been chosen via random.org and are being notified via email. If I don’t hear a response within 48 hours of sending the email a new winner will be selected.

©2012 There's A Book. All Rights Reserved.

So, the cake is gone, Bug is enjoying her gifts and is now feeling extremely generous! She has asked that I up the stakes…so, without further ado:

Littlebug’s Birthday Bash will be extended to not only ONE lucky $20 winner, but TWO! Also, there will be TWO winners who will each get one of the adorable book marks! Everything is doubled! We’ve been having such a great time we couldn’t resist!

To see the details of the giveaway head back to the original post and make sure to wish Littlebug a very Happy 1st Birthday!

If you haven’t already filled out the form go ahead now and do so. Look for the winning announcement on Monday February 8th (you have until Sunday the 7th at midnight CST to enter)!

©2012 There's A Book. All Rights Reserved.

Littlebug is One Year Old today! In celebration of this wonderful day we’ve decided to throw a giveaway for all of our fabulous readers! You!

The Details:

ONE lucky winner will win their choice of book(s) up to a $20 value! We will pay shipping & handling, do the ordering and such. All you need to do once we’ve emailed the winner is let us know which title(s) you’d like, not to exceed $20.

One other winner will be the lucky recipient of ONE of these lovely bookmarks! Aren’t they perfect? (If you’re interested just click on the picture to be taken to the Etsy shop where you can purchase them as well as some other fabulous items!)

That’s it! Two winners! Two wonderful prizes! The giveaway winners will be announced Monday morning the 8th of February (you only have until Feb. 7th at midnight CST to enter).

All courtesy of There’s A Book because of one special Littlebug.

*Please remember to read our Privacy Policy and know that only persons over the age of 13 are allowed to enter the giveaway.

©2012 There's A Book. All Rights Reserved.