Louise the Big Cheese: Divine Diva by Elise Primavera, Diane Goode (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

Let's face it. Every girl has a little big cheese in her.

Louise Cheese is no different. Night and day, Louise dreams of the limelight, lots of fuss, the red carpet, and more than anything to be the one and only "Big Cheese."

Finally, Louise gets her chance when her teacher, Mrs. Little, announces a casting call for the role of Cinderella in the school play. It's Louise's chance to be a star...or is it?

With humor and heart and just a little attitude, Elise Primavera and Diane Goode tell a story that will inspire the inner big cheese in all who read it.

Publishers Weekly

A bubblegum pink jacket with glittery type will catch the eye of aspiring leading ladies and Fancy Nancy fans. Inside, they'll easily identify with the drama-loving protagonist of Primavera's (Auntie Claus) buoyant tale. Small in stature, Louise is sure that landing the role of Cinderella in her school play is her ticket to Broadway (her motto: “Dream big!”). Alas, her best friend Fern gets that part, while Louise is cast as a mouse, resulting in a spat between the girls. Caldecott Honor artist Goode's (When I Was Young in the Mountains) playful watercolors with whimsical and expressive black outlines capture Louise's mercurial personality, as when the would-be diva holds up the broken tail of her itchy, secondhand mouse costume in disgust, while Fern, in a “frilly pink big-cheese Cinderella ball gown,” delightedly rehearses her crowning line. Their friendship is restored in the end, as Louise rescues her pal when Fern freezes and forgets her lines. Hand-lettered dialogue balloons and humor-filled renderings of Louise's show-biz dreams, bursting with pink and magenta, drive home the heroine's larger-than-life outlook. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2—Louise Cheese dreams of being a big star. She wishes her parents were less ordinary and envies her older sister because Penelope has a big room and lots of shades of lipstick. When her teacher announces that the class is going to put on Cinderella, Louise is convinced that she will get the lead and this will be her ticket to Broadway. Then her friend Fern gets the role, and Louise is cast as one of the mice, thus severing their friendship. When Fern forgets her last line, Louise cues her and all ends happily. The watercolor and ink illustrations are very pink as Louise fantasizes in pink. Dialogue is in word bubbles, and there's a fair amount of text. The cover is pink, with letters that sparkle. This Fancy Nancy look-alike is a nice-enough story but it's been done many times before.—Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI

Kirkus Reviews

Even second bananas sometimes have their day. Louise Cheese is a little girl with big dreams. She longs for her parents to be movers and shakers. She yearns to dress up and be glamorous like her sister Penelope. And when the time comes for the kids in Louise's class to try out for the school play, she is convinced that she will win the lead role. Instead, she is horrified to discover that her mousey best friend Fern has been given the part while Louise is relegated to being a mere mouse. The resulting spat between friends is resolved when Louise discovers that she can still play an important role in the play, even if it's not the one she initially envisioned. A perfect pairing to Kevin Henkes's Lilly's Big Day (2006), this book presents a protagonist with whom many a mini-diva will be able to identify from page one. Goode's liquid lines and sympathetic characters give the text the pop it deserves. Charming from endpapers to endpapers. (Picture book. 4-8)

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