Princess Lemonella is a "fractured fairy tale" twist on the classic "Prince Charming" trope. In this rendition, Princess Lemonella is a grumpy princess who rejects all the princes who try to marry her. Will she find true love with a prince as grumpy as she is? It's a story about how we can find people we have things in common with, who like us for who we are and who lift us up. I really enjoyed the humor and illustrations of this tale, and I like the message about being who you are, even if what you are is a little grumpy.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not compensated in any other fashion for the review and the opinions reflected below are entirely my own. Special thanks to the publisher and author for providing the copy.

RATING: 4 STARS
(I received an ARC from the NETGALLEY in exchange for an honest review.)
(Review Not on Blog)

A cute spunky tale about a princess that is sassy and smart. It reminds me of The Paperback Princess.

My kindergarten-aged girl liked this book, and I liked it because it was an unusual twist on the traditional fairy tales we usually read. It led to some great discussions about how our attitudes matter - and what kind of an impression a sour attitude gives to those we meet. I love the illustration artwork style!

My kids loved this book, easy to read and such a sweet tale. I would definitely recommend this book for 6+ year olds.

Super cute story! I read this to my sister and she loved it - really adorable and sweet.

From grumpy baby to sullen teenager, this princess never smiles. When the kind and queen put her up for royal marriage, princes from other fairy tales show up, asking her to let down her hair, offering her glass slippers and mattresses, and so on, but she’s not buying it.
It’s not till one guy ignores her by riding by that she gets interested, stopping him to find out why he’s not in the princess sweepstakes. Turns out he’s a sullen prince who’s also being forced to marry, and when they discover they’re exactly the same they. . . laugh. It’s beautiful.
If I had to describe this artwork I would go with mildly Impressionistic. Certainly not bad, just a tad different than most other kiddie books. It’s too bad the only time we can really like her doesn’t happen until the end; I wonder if kids will be able to keep their attention on this till then.
3.5 pushed up to 4/5

I was torn by this one. On one hand I loved the beautiful illustrations and some of the themes of the story such as that everyone is different and that there is someone for everyone.

However, I’m not a huge fan of modern children’s stories that are based solely on a princess having to find a prince. I love fairy tales but I do think that they need to be modernised to reflect and embrace diversity. I’m not sure how healthy it is for little girls to constantly read about the need for a Prince Charming, or in this case, a Prince Grumpy!

When I was growing up I was told all the time that I didn't smile enough so I related to Princess Lemonella and her grumpy look a lot! I enjoyed that the way the book was written and the ending. The illustrations were lovely and this book is great as a non-conventional fairy tale.

Clever tale about a dour princess who finally meets her match--and they live happily ever after. Beautiful illustrations accompany this simple story. Familiar fairy tale elements--a long golden braid of hair, a slipper, a pile of mattresses--make their appearance. Five stars, a new take on a classic genre.

The Kingdom of Cornichon welcomes a baby girl, Princess Ella. This princess does not smile, laugh or behave in any joyful way. Her parents, the king, and the queen try their hardest to create a situation where she would smile, but nothing gives in, and so they give up and call her Princess Lemonella.

After 18 years, the king and the queen finally decide that it is time for Lemonella to marry. As suitors pour in for this beautiful girl, she rejects them one after another. The princes all offer her things she is remotely interested in.

One day as she is staring outside her window, another prince rides along, and Lemonella says hi to him. She asks him if he wishes to offer what the others have been and he says no. Prince Peter is, in fact, suffering from the same fate as Lemonella. He too has a frowned face and does not smile or laugh. His parents call him Prince Pickle. As they discover their nicknames, they begin to smile and then laugh.

Their laughter brings them together.

I found this book to be a wonderful rendition of what we all need to learn from. The tale teaches us that everyone has a different background and comes from a diverse point of view. We simply cannot force anything on ourselves just because we are different.

We may feel misunderstood and misplaced at times, however, with a little patience, it is easy to find people that are in the same situation as us. We aren’t alone.

Sharing a smile and laughing together is not so hard when you find your match.

Written by Jeyran Main

An interesting twist on the princess fairy tale. It's enchanting and funny and I loved the illustrations.

It caught my attention because it is a illlustrated book and I love them.
It's a short and good story, with really cute illustrations and a plain story that ends well.
I smiled with the curious end although the final illustration remembered me to a character from the Disney's movie "Tangled" (Yes, Eugene and the prince from the book have almost the same face)
It's a good book for children and adults who enjoy illustrations! But maybe some illustrations could been better...

Get this for your library! (5 stars)

As one who tends to love unlikable characters I devoured Princess Lemonella with a mighty smirk. Beautifully illustrated and amusing, it's one of the most unusual and terrific children's books I've read recently.

Short, funny, and definitely one for read-alouds. I highly recommend it!

I liked the "Girl Power!" message presented by this story, where a Princess does not need a Prince to be complete.

A sly take on the fairy tale princess, this picture book takes playful shots at Rapunzel, Cinderella and The Princess and the Pea and how those princesses found the right prince. A tribute to bonding over your common nature, Brake's text and De Bruyen's beautiful illustrations make a cute short picture storybook. Encouraging princesses to wait to find the right guy before marrying is probably a good idea, but I longed for more insight about Lemonella, why she was angry and dissatisfied all the time, and for the book to be more about the princess than just the princess finding the right guy.

Very cute – several fairytales wrapped into one. “You don’t know what you’re looking for until you find it.

Ella was a very sour princess so her parents called her “Lemonella”. When it was time to marry her off there were several princes that came one thought she should let down her hair (Rapunzel), one wanted her to fit into a shoe (Cinderella) and one came with a matress (Princess and the Pea)

Finally a sour prince came and there was a match made. They realized that they didn’t need to be sour anymore.