The Duchess of Whimsy has great joie de vivre and the Earl of Norm is well, normal. Or at least that is how it appears at the beginning of our tale. Now the Duchess' father insists that she invite this ordinary person, the Earl, to her parties to foster friendship and good feeling between their two kingdoms. The Earl really likes the Duchess and tries to impress her with a giraffe, a bold cape and some sugary poetry. Nothing reaches her until the day her chef is too ill to prepare their feast. All the guests conjure up canapes and salads with quail eggs and all sorts of complicated dishes. But the Earl? He makes a grilled cheese sandwich and pours a glass of milk. Typical thinks the Duchess and then she looks a little closer. Hmm....looks pretty good. A few bites and they are finding out all kinds of things about each other. Turns out they have more in common than they ever knew. Sometimes you have to spend time with someone to really know who they are and what they have to offer. A delightful story-the illustrations are superb-about giving the other person a chance.