Review of "Sleeping Ugly," by Jane Yolen

Review of

Sleeping Ugly, by Jane Yolen ISBN 0590461052

Five out of five stars

 This is a fairy tale that goes to the heart of what they are, a lesson about personal conduct and interactions with  people. Those lessons are presented in a form that children can understand and relate to. Princess Miserella is a beautiful woman, but that beauty is only superficial, underneath she is all meanness and wickedness. Being a princess, she is of course wealthy. Plain Jane is exactly what her name implies, she is nowhere near pretty but has a sweet and lovely disposition and is poor. She is kind to the animals of the forest she lives in and they love her for it.

 When Miserella gets lost in the forest and encounters a fairy disguised as an old woman, she treats her like she does all others. When the fairy leads Miserella astray, they encounter Plain Jane in her humble abode. At no time does Miserella change her behavior, and she suffers for it while Plain Jane is eventually rewarded.  

 The lessons here are simple, old and yet very appropriate. A beautiful person can be ugly inside while the plain old girl can be a jewel underneath. Always treat people with kindness, for you never know what they really are. The seemingly inconsequential individual may be someone that holds your fate in their hands. These are essential lessons for life, as applicable a thousand years ago as they are today.