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190th out of 214 books
—
120 voters
The Duchess of Whimsy
The great New Yorker artist Peter de Seve teams up with the author of bestselling Toy Boat in a slightly outrageous fairy tale. The Duchess of Whimsy is fancy and fussy—and definitely not ordinary—surrounding herself with wild friends, fabulous foods, and fancy dress. The Earl of Norm (ho hum) is completely ordinary, but he adores the Duchess. She ignores him, until the c...more
Hardcover, 32 pages
Published
October 29th 2009
by Philomel
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Nov 13, 2009
Abigail
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Young Fairy-Tale Fans / Anyone Who Thinks the Ordinary is No Fun
Recommended to Abigail by:
Chandra
Shelves:
picture-books
Review Temporarily Removed.
Well, through the first half of this I was laughing so much I wondered how I could ever read it aloud to children.
This is actually one of the best love stories I’ve ever read. It’s about how two very different people (the “whimsical” and the “normal”) find common ground, and also find that they’re not as different from each other as they’d thought. It’s an entertaining story and it’s not overly message heavy It’s funny and sweet, but not overly sweet. Also, aside from the obvious message, one co...more
This is actually one of the best love stories I’ve ever read. It’s about how two very different people (the “whimsical” and the “normal”) find common ground, and also find that they’re not as different from each other as they’d thought. It’s an entertaining story and it’s not overly message heavy It’s funny and sweet, but not overly sweet. Also, aside from the obvious message, one co...more
7 likes · like · see review
I loved, loved, LOVED this book!
First of all, let me say that the illustrations are *perfect* and I wanted to peruse each page slowly and intently to catch every little detail!
As for the story - what a gem!! The Duchess of Whimsy is just what her name suggests. She abhors anything normal... so, of course, the Earl of Norm is, unfortunately, just too boring. He, however, is madly in love with the Duchess.
What I loved about this book was that it really was such a wonderful example of how people ar...more
First of all, let me say that the illustrations are *perfect* and I wanted to peruse each page slowly and intently to catch every little detail!
As for the story - what a gem!! The Duchess of Whimsy is just what her name suggests. She abhors anything normal... so, of course, the Earl of Norm is, unfortunately, just too boring. He, however, is madly in love with the Duchess.
What I loved about this book was that it really was such a wonderful example of how people ar...more
4 likes · like · see review
The Duchess of Whimsy was a most unusual woman. She was known throughout the land for her extravagant soirees and fabulous style. The Earl of Norm, on the other hand, was as normal as they come. He dressed in ordinary clothes and discussed sensible topics. The Duchess could see no use for the Earl, but the Earl loved the Duchess’s joie de vivre. The Earl tried to get her attention by borrowing clothes and bringing exotic pets, but his plans always go awry. Until the night that the cook took ill...more
The Duchess of Whimsy is about the ordinary character "the Earl of Norm" who loves the extraordinary character "the Duchess of Whimsy". The two meet and various inter-kingdom gatherings, and the Earl of Norm tries impress the Duchess in ways that do not suit his ordinariness, and the Duchess has no interest in him. One day, when the cook at the castle gets sick, everyone in the castle panics because they do not know how to make the extravagant food they are used to. However, the Earl of Norm rem...more
if your child liked Fancy Nancy or Eloise then they will love The Duchess of Whimsy by Randall de Séve. This delight fairytale is a love story, but there is a sweet moral behind it. The Duchess of Whimsy is known throughout the land as the greatest hostess there ever was! Her extravagant soirées are equally matched by the outlandish and stunning costumes that the Duchess of Whimsy adorns. The Duchess of Whimsy is loved by all, especially the Earl of Norm, who is hopelessly in love with her. He p...more
As posted on Outside of a Dog:
The Duchess of Whimsy lives up to her name. She throws "extravagant soirées", she wears "elaborate attire", holds an "uncommon conversation" and has the "most peculiar pets and acquaintances". She is the hostess with the mostest. The Earl of Norm, on the other hand "is as normal as they come". His clothes, his dog, his conversation, everything was normal, except his love for the Duchess of Whimsy. The Duchess of Whimsy by Randall de Sève, with illustrations by Peter...more
The Duchess of Whimsy lives up to her name. She throws "extravagant soirées", she wears "elaborate attire", holds an "uncommon conversation" and has the "most peculiar pets and acquaintances". She is the hostess with the mostest. The Earl of Norm, on the other hand "is as normal as they come". His clothes, his dog, his conversation, everything was normal, except his love for the Duchess of Whimsy. The Duchess of Whimsy by Randall de Sève, with illustrations by Peter...more
If your child liked Fancy Nancy or Eloise then they will love The Duchess of Whimsy by Randall de Séve. This delight fairytale is a love story, but there is a sweet moral behind it. The Duchess of Whimsy is known throughout the land as the greatest hostess there ever was! Her extravagant soirées are equally matched by the outlandish and stunning costumes that the Duchess of Whimsy adorns. The Duchess of Whimsy is loved by all, especially the Earl of Norm, who is hopelessly in love with her. He p...more
I don’t think that every single picture book out there needs to have a moral, but it’s not a terrible idea if they happen to contain stories that instruct just a tad on the side. Children's stories offer every possible morality tale you can imagine too. Don’t steal. Be polite to your baby sister. Don’t eat food you find on the street (unless, apparently, it has fallen from the sky). The thing about The Duchess of Whimsy is that for all its overwhelming beauty and fun, its moral is based in pract...more
The Duchess of Whimsy has always been whimsical in her love of all things, well, whimsical. She surrounds herself with strange pets and intriguing people, she wears the most extravagant of dresses and talks of all things peculiar. But the one thing she can not stand is boring normal. Or so everyone thought...
The Earl of Norm has always been quite sensible in his liking of everything normal. He has the most ordinary of pets and dresses in typical clothing. He talks only to the most level-headed o...more
The Earl of Norm has always been quite sensible in his liking of everything normal. He has the most ordinary of pets and dresses in typical clothing. He talks only to the most level-headed o...more
this is a cute story about the duchess of whimsy and the earl of norm. as the name indicates, the duchess of whimsy is.. whimsical. she loves having fun, bright colours and is the life of the party. and the earl of norm is ‘normal’ aka quiet/ introverted. the earl admires the duchess because of her spirit and tries to get her to notice him, but she thinks he’s normal and doesn’t like him. one day the duchess’s chef gets a cold on the day she’s having one of her parties and so all of the guests b...more
The Duchess of Whimsy lives up to her name in many respects. She throws wild parties, has crazy friends, and is surrounded by exotic pets. The Earl of Norm also fits his name since he dresses in ordinary clothes and a typical pet, a dog. Despite the fact that they often move in the same circles, the Duchess sees little worth noting in the Earl of Norm until they bond over a grilled cheese sandwich and realize that they have more in common than they might have thought, and that first impressions...more
This enchanting little love story about a whimsical duchess and her perfectly ordinary admirer is one of my new favorite picture books.
The first time I read it, I thought it was cute but unexceptional. But that night while putting Harper to bed I wanted a new story to tell her, having told the Gunniwolf about five nights in a row. I remembered enough of this one that I decided to give it a go. Harper seemed to really enjoy it, so I decided to check the book back out again. I've since read the b...more
The first time I read it, I thought it was cute but unexceptional. But that night while putting Harper to bed I wanted a new story to tell her, having told the Gunniwolf about five nights in a row. I remembered enough of this one that I decided to give it a go. Harper seemed to really enjoy it, so I decided to check the book back out again. I've since read the b...more
Bought this firstly because I am a die-hard Peter de Seve fan, and secondly because I am a child at heart :D The story is sweet, and the illustrations is just beautiful and so much fun to look at. I like the fact that the Duchess learn to appreciate someone different from herself.
I saw some reviewers guessing correctly that the dog is their family dog, the two fairies are their daughters and the duchess and the earl are somewhat (if not completely) based on his in-laws. It's a family affair obvi...more
I saw some reviewers guessing correctly that the dog is their family dog, the two fairies are their daughters and the duchess and the earl are somewhat (if not completely) based on his in-laws. It's a family affair obvi...more
The Duchess of Whimsy is exactly how her name describes her. The Earl of Norm is just that. Or is he? Or is she?
The story is spot on and the characters delineated as much by the illustrations as the text. When the Duchess entertains her father, who points out how she must marry the boring Earl of Norm, his train is held up by several pairs of retainers, displaying without words where the dizzy Duchess gets her extravagant sense of style. The Duchess’s friends are no less unrestrained in their at...more
The story is spot on and the characters delineated as much by the illustrations as the text. When the Duchess entertains her father, who points out how she must marry the boring Earl of Norm, his train is held up by several pairs of retainers, displaying without words where the dizzy Duchess gets her extravagant sense of style. The Duchess’s friends are no less unrestrained in their at...more
This is no ordinary duchess, but the Earl of Norm is quite normal. Afterall, who doesn't like a good grilled-cheese sandwich every now and then...even royalty! The Duchess of Whimsy is hard to please and might be considered spoiled by the standards of some. The Earl of Norm is in love with her and has been for some time. The Duchess has parties all the time and invites the Earl, but she never considers him as a friend or suitor until her cook takes ill. Al the royal guests scurry around the kitc...more
Ah if only all affairs of the heart could be resolved with a grilled cheese sandwich. This story of complete opposites who fall in love is charming and delightful. The narrative cleverly switches tone from soirees and peculiar pets to ordinary serious things depending on the character. The illustrations are divine with lots of details in the Duchesses’ grand parties to keep you busy. The facial expressions are over the top and fanciful. The plain white background on several pages often helps acc...more
Adorable story about the Duchess of Whimsy who is creative and energetic, and the Earl of Norm who is the exact opposite, but he loves her. They think they have nothing in common until the day the cook is ill and her guests bring their own food, including the Earl who brings his grilled cheese sandwich and milk. She finds out that she loves it too and they get to talking, and suddenly discover that they really liked each other. I absolutely loved the illustrations, which totally made the story m...more
Oh, I like this. I like the lavishly insouciant colored pencil and watercolor illustrations. I like the fun, fancy Duchess, with her penchant for "elaborate attire" and "uncommon conversation." I like the Earl of Norm, who, although he is an intrinsically rather quiet guy, really enjoys the Duchess's spirit, and tries to spice himself up with fancy clothes and a giraffe. And I like that, in the end, he wins her over with a grilled cheese sandwich, and they find that they have more in common than...more
Feb 09, 2010
8feetahead
added it
I should have payed more attention to the reading level before picking this one up. My 5 year old has an above average vocabulary and enjoys learning new words, but after having to explain soiree, rutted, foliage and flamboyant within the first few pages he was done. Additionally the story of an Earl's attempt to capture the affection of an outrageous Duchess wasn't captivating enough to encourage him to wade through the new vocabulary.
I'm leaving off the star-rating because this is really a ver...more
I'm leaving off the star-rating because this is really a ver...more
Oct 05, 2011
Kathryn Yegge
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
kids-books-fiction,
traditional-literature
I love this cute fairy tale book. I really think love stories are fantastic, and that's one of the great things about this book. This book is about the Dutchess of Whimsey who doesn't really like the Earl, but the Earl is completely in love with her. Eventually, the Dutchess does fall in love with the Earl after eating his grilled cheese sandwich. My schema is that I've read a lot of fairy tale books like this one. I wonder why the author decided to write this story, since it has been written be...more
Every time I flip through this book, I can't help but to think of Myers-Briggs personality types. As I see it, this book is about an ISTJ (the Earl of Norm) who falls in love with an ENFP (the Duchess of Whimsy). Hilarity ensues but ultimately the duo come to realize they have a few things in common and, more importantly, they appreciate and value each other's differences. I think the story is awesome and the illustrations are gorgeous and fitting. My four year old didn't quite "get it" but I th...more
The de Sèves use a princess (although they are referred to as Duke and Duchess, their fathers are kings, so they are really a prince and princess) to sugarcoat a fairly standard, if worthwhile, message for children: get to know people before you judge them.
The vibrant Duchess has a court of quirky characters who party non-stop. Nothing is too wild, crazy, or original for them, they can never have too much fun and excitement. Poor Norm has a mad pash for the Duchess, but she thinks he's a bore a...more
The vibrant Duchess has a court of quirky characters who party non-stop. Nothing is too wild, crazy, or original for them, they can never have too much fun and excitement. Poor Norm has a mad pash for the Duchess, but she thinks he's a bore a...more
Feb 25, 2010
Kathryn
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Kathryn by:
Chandra
Shelves:
childrens-picture-books
4.5 STARS. I've waited eagerly for our library to acquire a copy of this, having been won over by the lovely cover art and cute title. I must say, it was worth the wait!!! It's a wonderful and deeply honest take on the typical castle-based love story. The Earl of Norm is constantly invited to the Duchess of Whimsy's parties because, as her father says, their kingdoms "must get along." But she finds the Earl so very BORING! Meanwhile, he finds her dazzlingly fascinating and exciting and completel...more
7 likes · like · see review
How could you not describe this book anything other than whimsical?
A great story time love story book or a fun reading book for advanced young readers. The illustrations, are divine and parents will enjoy reading this book just as much as their kids enjoy hearing it!
There's not a lot of rhyming, but there is clever wordplay and if you're the time of parents who love to make up voices when you read, this is a perfect book for it!
I will definitely be adding this book to our collection!
A great story time love story book or a fun reading book for advanced young readers. The illustrations, are divine and parents will enjoy reading this book just as much as their kids enjoy hearing it!
There's not a lot of rhyming, but there is clever wordplay and if you're the time of parents who love to make up voices when you read, this is a perfect book for it!
I will definitely be adding this book to our collection!
Ami me encanto este libro literatura tradicional.Por que la Duchess de Whimsy no era lo que paresia y el Earl de Norm tambien no era lo que paresia este librotrata de un hombre que quiere la atencion de Duchess de Whimsy y la agaro la atencion de ella porhaser un sanwich de queso muy rico.Mi esquema es que la Duchess de Whimsy le encantan los animales como yo.Mi pregunta es por que mintio el Earl de Norm y la Duchess de Whimsy.Yo le recomiendo este libro a las ninas de mi clase por que le gustan...more
I love this traditonal literatul book. This book is about a man that created a sandwich with yellow melted cheese and a lady wanted to take a bite so the man offered her to take a bite... (she fell in love with the sandwich thats how she fell in love with the man.) The book was written from a point of view of a man named, "The Earl Of Norm" My schema with this book is that I've tasted a sandwich with yellow melted cheese in the middle. I want to remember that Soirees means a party. I recomend th...more
The Duchess of Whimsy is fabulous and everyone, especially the Earl of Norm, knows it. The Earl is hopelessly in love with the Duchess, but she won't give him the time of day because he is so ordinary. But one night, thanks to a sick chef and a grilled cheese sandwich, The Duchess sees The Earl in a different light, and ordinary doesn't look so bad any more.
The descriptive language is complemented perfectly by deliciously extravagant illustrations. A perfect marriage of word and art.
The descriptive language is complemented perfectly by deliciously extravagant illustrations. A perfect marriage of word and art.
Peter de Sève is one of my favourite illustrators and his illustrations in this book were beautiful as always.... However, I was somewhat disappointed by the vast amounts of white space. While I understand the message of whimsy vs. norm that this white space is supposed to represent, his art is so gorgeous it begs to be seen in full bleeds or full-page spreads more often throughout the book. Story shares an important lesson in a way that is simple for children to understand, without being preach...more
My opinion of this book is that this book is awesome. The genre of this book is fairy tale. This book is about The Earl wants to be the Duchess of Whimsy boyfriend. My schema with this book is that there is a movie that there's a princess and a kid that want's to be the princess boyfriend but she doesn't wants to be his girlfriend. My question is why doesn't she wants to be The Earl's girlfriend. I recommend this book to everybody.
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Feb 25, 2010 08:46am
Feb 25, 2010 09:12am