The Princess Tales
Juvenile Fiction
Harper Collins
October 8, 2002
Paperback
112
There she was, chartreuse and warty and smiling at him. Such a nice smile. Something in his heart fluttered. The young maiden, Parsley, will eat nothing but parsley, which in Snettering-on-Snoakes grows only in the fairy Bombina's garden. All is well -- until Bombina is released from the fairy queen's dungeon. Her crime? Failing to get along with humans. And turning them into toads! Meanwhile, twin princes Randolph and Rudolph are causing trouble at Biddle Castle and pinning everything on their younger brother, Tansy. Prince Tansy cares about Biddle. Randolph and Rudolph don't. But one of the twins will be king, unless Prince Tansy accepts help from a green Biddlebum Toad! A delightful retelling of the little-known German fairy tale "Puddocky," this fifth Princess Tale from Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Levine shows that nothing is quite as it seems and that anything is possible, with a dash of magic and a barrel of love.
WrensReads Review:
Do you like retelling of fairy-tales? Gail Carson Levine is the author for you. She is witty, and pokes fun at fairy-tales all the while making you love the story even more.
“Meanwhile, Parsley grew into a plump, happy child with a lovely smile, in spite of teeth that were stained pale green [from only eating Parsley].”
– For Biddle’s Sake by Gail Carson Levine
Just by the first chapter, you can grasp the humor Levine puts in her words. Her use of run-on sentences leaves you out of breath and laughing from the repetitiveness. Her objective to point out the obvious will keep you entertained.
For Biddle’s Sake, a fairy-tale based on the German fairy-tale Puddocky by Brothers Grimm, is about a little girl who goes to live with a fairy that has pale-green teeth. The fairy she lives with has a very short temper, and ends up turning Parsley into a toad [the fairy’s favorite thing to turn people into].
Tansy is the king’s son. He has two older brothers [twins] that always blame him for destroying precious kingdom items. They never agree and never listen to poor Tansy.
The king decided to hold a contest for the two older sons to decide who gets the crown. Tansy is sympathetically thrown into the mix. He meets a nice toad that helps him with the contest.
Will Parsley always be a toad? Will she master her magic? Will the fairy ever see Parsley smile again? Will Tansy ever get his brother’s to listen? Will he get the crown?
Levine has a splash of humor you will not find anyone else. Using plays on words and awkward humor, this is perfect for a story for a young girl or for a grown woman who can’t get enough of fairy-tales (cough me). I will always be a fan of Levine’s writing and I am so happy I picked them up first on my own quest to reread all my favorite books.
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