“Few books in th[e] genre treat both their subject and their readers with as much respect as …Alemagna's do. These aren't didactic works. They are art, with soul-stirring depth and resonance.... Alemagna is one of the greats, up there with Tomi Ungerer, Maurice Sendak and Leo Lionni...”—The New York Times Book Review
★ "In the best tradition of enlightening literary journeys, the duo pass through Wicked Woods, Lake Youbegone, and the Grumporium. Each setting is wondrous, the earthy palette incorporating shimmering blues and textured mixed-media patterns. Comic relief comes in various forms, among them the smelly, mean Boogers that trail after them. As she travels with Her Royal Muddiness, Yuki learns some profound truths about family and emotion: 'When people get angry, they take it out on the things they love.' Tenderness undergirds Yuki and Shen’s ensuing reunion. Alemagna’s narrative employs lovely alliteration, striking figurative language, subtle exchanges between characters, and delightful images to probe the siblings’ complex emotions while allowing readers to discern meaning for themselves... An imaginative, deeply satisfying odyssey."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
★ "Exceptional creator Alemagna again brings glorious mixed-media art to enliven this marvelously imagined emotional journey: washy color fields, expressive daubs, and exuberant marks filling textured patterns evoke a delightfully detailed subversive underworld any kid would happily visit, where unpleasantness reigns with cheerful acceptance. A truly inventive, empathetic tale acknowledging that all big feelings—even the murky ones—have their place."—Booklist, starred review
★"...in award-winning author-illustrator Beatrice Alemagna’s Her Muddy Majesty of Muck, things get even worse when, in a fit of pique, Yuki hurls the house keys down a manhole. Intent on retrieving them before Shen catches on, she climbs down a very long ladder and alights in a dirty cavern far beneath the city streets. She’s scared when 'an enormous dripping creature made of mud' emerges from the darkness, but when the creature genially introduces herself as Her Muddy Majesty of Muck and politely instructs Yuki to follow, Yuki can’t help but be intrigued... Her Majesty leads Yuki through the wonderfully weird Wicked Woods, where trippy-looking trees soar above and grinning, potato-esque Boogers taunt Yuki from below. 'They love making people feel terrible,' the royal explains as the cute little meanies exclaim 'I’m dumb!' and 'It’s your fault! No, it’s your fault!' in a glorious spread that’s colorful, funny and poignant all at once ... When the siblings reunite, they treat each other with a new tenderness in a lovely conclusion to this affecting story. It’s an inventive, reassuring modern-day fairy tale replete with evocative art, clever humor and poetic language that fans of Alice in Wonderland, Where the Wild Things Are, and Shibu’s Tail will especially appreciate."—BookPage, starred review
"With short, staccato sentences, the first-person narrative pulls readers in close, challenging them to sit with difficult feelings... Children will want to linger and study these imaginative worlds where anger can be discarded, sipped from a bottle, or taken to bed for a nap. A beautiful and moving treatise on befriending the ‘darkness’ that lives within each of us... A work of art that grows in meaning with each rereading."—Youth Services Book Review
“(A) fantastical journey... (and) deeply empathic picture book.... (with) surreal mixed-media illustrations... Alemagna (Pepper and Me) uses fantasy not to escape negative feelings but to make them tangible—and offer hope that tangled wires can finally be smoothed.”—Publishers Weekly
"Weird, messy, and mucky in all the best and worst ways, just like people. You gotta let your toes touch the mud sometimes."—Left Bank Books, New York, NY (Edelweiss)
