A sympathetic but bored princess is approaching her 16th birthday, at which point, under the traditions of the kingdom, she'll have to marry one of three appalling suitors (or four, depending on how you count). To distract herself from this unhappy future and stave off boredom, she goes slumming incognito. The illustrations by Jules Feiffer are splendid caricatures, and fit the tone of the book perfectly.I read this short novel aloud at bedtime to my 4 1/2 year old daughter, who got the elements of broad humor and liked the story a lot. An older kid or adult would also likely pick up on the gentle satire on privilege, for example when the princess periodically makes 'let them eat cake' statements as she experiments with being a peasant. The meta-messages are good without being explicit, and are all the better for being somewhat tart - for example, that self-deceiving and self-absorbed people are generally unbearable, but that even flawed people can do the right thing if they act with kindness and don't take themselves too seriously. This book was incredibly cute. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. It was for a younger audience then what I usually read, but the storyline was pretty cute, so I decided to check it out. I read this in one sitting and loved every minute of it. Princess Patricia Priscilla was super adorable and lovable from the start. I love that the whole book starts out with her being bored and wanting to fix her boredom. Lois Lowry did a great job with her characters and each one was distinct and enjoyable. I loved the personalities of the suitors. Each was very unique and highly over the top, which made them very entertaining. I also enjoyed the growing relationship between the servants and the relationship between the princess and the teacher. All in all this was a great children’s story and I know girls of all ages will enjoy this one.
What do You think about Le Bal D'anniversaire (2011)?
i think the book was truly amazing and i recommend it to a lot of girls who like Lois Lowry's books!
—ciararice
Not my favorite book by Lowry but I bet my nine year old neices would love it.
—ahauser
