A review by kanncarlson
The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill

4.0

Latest read-aloud book for my kid. It was nice. It gave me Secret Garden vibes in the way that descriptions were written. We started it when she was sick and really needed some calming vibes versus some of the more rambunctious reads we had going at the time. It was lovely.

It is a story about a town that was once lovely and now...not so much. There is a burned down library and a tricky new mayor. There are still beautiful bits about the town including titular Ogress and a house full of orphans. The reader watches as the town kind of tears itself apart and, eventually, comes back together.

This book felt like it could have been written in response to how things have been going in this country lately. I haven't looked at anything more in-depth about the book but the morals really tended toward not judging others based on information that you didn't gain for yourself or from a trusted source.