Dinah and the Green Fat Kingdom

by Isabelle Holland

A book of this grade is generally well kept and is in good shape to read and store. Sturdy spine, all pages intact physically. Solid cover. Might have acceptable shelve wear. Might, rarely, have very limited notes.

Genres: Young Adult, Middle Grade, Childrens

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Isabelle Christian Holland (born June 16, 1920 in Basel, Switzerland — died February 9, 2002) was an author of children and adult fiction. Her father was the American Consul in Liverpool, England during WWII. She moved to America in 1940 due to the war. She wrote Gothic novels, adult mysteries, romantic thrillers, and many books for children and young adults. She wrote over 50 books in her lifetime, and was still working at the time of her death at age 81 in New York City.

Two of her novels have been made into movies:

Bump in the Night, 1991,
The Man Without a Face, 1993

Both of these novels deal with issues or allegations of pedophilia.

Reviews

[Sonia With an I · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this gem when I was in 7th grade. I was a chubby girl who loved to read, but never really connected to the characters. It was the summer I lived with my father and he decided to make me diet. I ate twice a day, and was not allowed to go to friends or families parties because there might be food there. I immersed myself in books and I found this one in the discard pile at the local library. I was allowed to go to the library because there wasn't food there. The book was going to be discarded and I asked if I could have it. I read this book three times that summer. When I moved out in September, my father burned all my things, including this book. I searched for it at other libraries and soon forgot about it. Last year I found it online and purchased it again. Twenty six years later, I still love this story!

I read this again and it still touched me in a way that I can't explain except by saying I felt seen. This was the first book that I felt was a representation of me. As I read it 36 years after I read it originally, I still felt that same feeling of being seen. This is why representation matters.

[Therese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you remember the first time, when you were growing up, that you couldn't make-believe anymore? Where your yard wouldn't turn into a store or your bike into a car? This book examines, among other things, the last few weeks of childhood.

The tensions in Dinah's young life are making her very sour. She is becoming increasingly value-less to the world the fatter she gets, it's become the only thing her busy mother cares about; that and praising Dinah's sad skinny perfect little cousin who lives with them. She can't find her place in this world, so she invents her own world, for her and her ugly little puppy, sitting in a hidden tree writing in her notebook about the Green Fat Kingdom. But then she meets the weird family up the hill, and finds maybe there is a happy spot in reality for her, too.

This book has stuck with me my entire life. I read it last year, and it was better than I remembered when I was 10.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This classic 1978 novel was a find at my local library sale and it was a nice break from modern books. Dinah is a twelve year old girl who has developed weight issues stemming from emotional discomfort with her parents being away so much as a child. Being twelve, while she is angry at others obsession with her weight, she's not that empathetic with other people's problems, such as kids who go to the "special" school and her cousin who is living with Dinah's family after the death of her mother. Dinah spends much of her time after school sitting in a big old oak tree fantasizing about another land where fatter is better! Much of the book is spent with Dinah resenting her mother's insistence that she lose weight while admitting to herself that fat is unattractive. By the end of the novel, dinah has it out with her family, but comes to terms with her fears about her weight and even manages to make friends with the eccentric people up the hill. While lacking in realism, this book makes for an entertaining read and the author's writing is clear, descriptive and perfect for the target audience. While dated in some ways, this might still appeal to the type of pre-teen who likes whimsical novels.

[Lenny Husen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well written book, but it made me cringe. The implication is that Dinah will follow a diet and become thinner and be loved by herself and everyone else. And yay, get healthy, because losing weight on a diet always leads to better health, NOT.
Too bad that was the ending that the author chose. Up to the ending, it was very good, and I loved Dinah. She was adorable, and her terrible parents get better by the end of the story. I read this sometime in the late 80's or early 90's.

[Scott Guffey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fall of my 6th grade year in 1986, my parents moved us to another side of town where I started middle school with a whole new group of kids in a new neighborhood. I felt very aware for the first time how others saw me and did not feel at all like I fit in this new place. We were sent to the library to spend an hour searching for a book that would become an oral book report the following week. I was drawn to this book first by the title, then by the lesson inside. Even though I was not fat, nor a girl, I totally related to this book's message. It helped me feel less alone in my feelings and recognize that it was ok to be exactly who I was. Dinah's imagination and love of climbing trees felt very much like me. I had a favorite tree I would also climb and spend hours in. Her ways of coping and resolving adult feelings in that awkward adolescence time we all go through when we realize that world outside our families is only going to get bigger and the sooner we find a way to accept ourselves and learn to ask for what we need, the better.
It has been many years now since I've read this, but impressed by how the title stayed with me. I still remember that feeling when I said the title out loud to a bunch of 11 year old strangers and gave them a way to laugh with me first, then listen to me as I showed my vulnerability to them with more bravery than fear. I developed a useful tool that still helps me today by worrying less about how people look at me and how to find my inner confidence to make them listen to what I have to say.

[Priscilla King · Rating 3 out of 5]

A chubby child doesn't slim down enough to suit her beauty-conscious mother, in the course of this book, and not much else happens either, but they do talk through their feelings and salvage the mother-daughter relationship. Meh. That's as realistic as a novel can get...probably too realistic to satisfy most novel readers. I liked this book because, without being p.c. party-line feminists, both girl and woman have a lot of worthwhile comments to make on being a woman in our culture. Maybe younger readers are better qualified to judge to what extent their comments are relevant to today's young people. I know a lot of women who still need to read this book today.

Holland wrote another fat-kid book, with an older protagonist, in which something does happen: the girl takes "diet pills," a mild amphetamine formula, and has a mild version of a meth breakdown. The two novels are easily confused. This is the one with the wholesome pre-teen character where the crisis is a big loud family quarrel.

[Kit Sinatra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I related to this story so so much. I was also a little chubby in my preteen years and my family would constantly mention if I should I shouldn’t be eating something. Dinah had an almost perfect cousin living with them that she was constantly being compared to. She tried to escape her home life by climbing her favorite tree and living in her own little fantasy world through maladaptive daydreaming (actually like reading my own memories). I loved that she adopted a little ugly dog and was able to keep him.

The only thing I wasn’t a fan of was how often Dinah brought up being fat when it wasn’t even part of the conservation. I know she did it because it was all her family talked about, but it was a little cringe when she would do it constantly with other people.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written, funny, great voice. Tackles the body-shaming that happens to fat people so surprisingly well considering it was published in 1978. I don't think I read this one as a child, but I wish I had.

[ayanami · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first encounter with this book was when I found it in my middle school library and my friends and I had a good laugh over the title. I never actually read it back then, which is a shame because I totally missed out on a great book. The issue of weight was handled very sensitively in this book, but it's not only about weight, it's about the end of childhood fantasies and growing up and so much more. I found Sister Elizabeth's scenes a bit tedious and preachy, but I guess they were necessary.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well done YA about an overweight young teen - many of her family members, notably her mother, give her a ridiculously hard time (both parents and an older brother make much of the fact that no boy will like her). She adopts an adorable dog and reaches out to supportive adults to help her through.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books when I was in 4th or 5th grade...it's stayed with me through the years.

[H.K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the time, a good middle school read. Body issues and self-acceptance.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this 20 years ago, loved it the second time around.