The Ugly Princess and the Wise Fool

Rating:
Summary: Great book for all ages
Review: I love all original fairy tales, and this one is great! It is cute, with a spunky heroine, who is not perfect in either body or personality, but is for the most part a good person. It also has some traditional fairy tale themes such as a fairy godmother and a handsome prince. All in all this is a good book to read for any girl who thinks she sould be more beautiful.

The third princess is always the most beautiful, with two lovely, but mean sisters, and must over come many obsiticals to marry prince charming and find true love. But what happens when the third princess is not beautiful, or even atractive. Princess Rose faces this delema, although she didn't even think of it as so before the amazing Prince Parseley comes looking for a beautiful wife. With out thinking of the consecuances Rose wishes to be the most beautiful princess ever, and she gets her wish. Is this Rose's destiny to marry prince Parseley, or to stay the nice, but plain Rose.

Rating:
Summary: A cute and darlingly mixed-up fairy tale
Review: I put off reading this book for a few days in order to read other titles that appeared more appealing. I was wrong. Within the first few pages, I found myself laughing and hating to put the book down to finish my work. I couldn't wait to have the chance to sit down and finish it. Yes, it is a twisted fairy tale with the cliche of an ugly princess, but there the comparisons end. Gray has managed to write her material fresh, silly, and downright funny. Rose is a third princess with buck teeth and awful hair. Her older sisters, Concrete and Asphalt, have to wait for hours each day while their hair is groomed and maintained to perfection. They don't mind since their younger sister's ugliness has not required them to fly off and become wicked, bitter ugly witches! Rose's adventures and lessons learned about wishes and beauty are obvious, but still entertaining, so readers won't mind getting a message with their fun. This would be a cute book for a classroom read aloud or for any girl looking for a new fairy tale chapter book.

Also recommended are: The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye and the fairy tale books of Gail Carson Levine

Rating:
Summary: A cute and darlingly mixed-up fairy tale
Review: I put off reading this book for a few days in order to read other titles that appeared more appealing. I was wrong. Within the first few pages, I found myself laughing and hating to put the book down to finish my work. I couldn't wait to have the chance to sit down and finish it. Yes, it is a twisted fairy tale with the cliche of an ugly princess, but there the comparisons end. Gray has managed to write her material fresh, silly, and downright funny. Rose is a third princess with buck teeth and awful hair. Her older sisters, Concrete and Asphalt, have to wait for hours each day while their hair is groomed and maintained to perfection. They don't mind since their younger sister's ugliness has not required them to fly off and become wicked, bitter ugly witches! Rose's adventures and lessons learned about wishes and beauty are obvious, but still entertaining, so readers won't mind getting a message with their fun. This would be a cute book for a classroom read aloud or for any girl looking for a new fairy tale chapter book.

Also recommended are: The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye and the fairy tale books of Gail Carson Levine

Rating:
Summary: A must for any little girl
Review: My partner and I highly reccomend this book to anyone trying to raise girls in an age when the Olsen twins are populating People with their eating disorders and addictions. We may have come a long way, but baby its still hard to be a girl in the U.S. Gray's Ugly Princess provides an entertaining check on a society that overrates beauty and undervalues intelligence, creativity, and a sense of humor. This message can't be reinforced enough to maintain the self esteem of young girls, and we're delighted that our three daughters ask us to read this book to them over and over again. Our only complaint -- why hasn't Gray authored a similar text aimed at gay men in their 40s?

Rating:
Summary: An Exciting Fairytale For All Ages!!!!!!!!!
Review: The once popular type of princess-- the sort with guileless blue eyes and more beauty than brains-- has gone quite out of fashion. Princesses in more recent books are, more often than not, antidotes to the earlier stereotype, to the point where the plain, smart, and plucky princess has become a new stereotype. I hesitated at picking up Margaret Gray's version of the unusual princess because I had already made my acquaintance with Gail Carson Levin's Ella, and Patricia Wrede's Cimorene, and Vivian Vande Velde's Princess Jennifer, and half a dozen other such atypical princesses.

But The Ugly Princess and the Wise Fool is filled with such good humor and wit that I was caught from the first sentence and didn't put the book-- chest protector, rather-- down until I had finished it. The familiar elements of fairy tales are all there. But Princess Rose has a snub nose and buck teeth and isn't by any stretch of the imagination beautiful. The court jester, Jasper, is a former wise man on the run after the king outlawed wisdom in the kingdom of Couscous. The fairy godmother is answerable to the Godmother Board of Trustees. And the glass slippers, as might be expected, are your podiatrist's worst nightmare...

The fantasy world Margaret Gray creates is delightfully tongue in cheek. There are kingdoms called Couscous and princesses named Asphalt and Concrete-- after all, there's no point in giving the older princesses decent names if only the youngest one is going to succeed. You can obtain degrees in wisdom from the Wise Man's Academy after learning to instantly assume the Air of Wisdom (one hand stroking beard, one eye wide open, the other tightly shut, and one leg bent) upon the sound of a whistle. And if you happen to be in a hurry, you have the option of going on an Express Quest (offered only in extreme circumstances), as opposed to a regular Quest.

Margaret Gray's writing is sprightly and energetic and often laugh out loud funny, and the wacky illustrations by Randy Cecil add to the fun. It's like M. M. Kaye's The Ordinary Princess meets Vivian Vande Velde's witty and rather modern treatments of Rumpelstiltskin, but without the slightly sugary quality of the first or the sharp sarcasm of the latter. Fairy tale fans who loved Kindl's Goose Chase and Ferris's Once Upon a Marigold should find The Ugly Princess and the Wise Fool to be similarly enjoyable. It isn't profound or groundbreaking, but it is a thoroughly entertaining concoction of wisdom and nonsense in exactly the right proportions.

Ailanna

Rating:
Summary: Princesses should Be Beautiful?
Review: This deliciously wry fairy tale is a tasty treat for readers from 6 to 106. This is no "leathery pastry with a fibrous middle," no mere chest protector for snoozing fools, but a first-class rip-roaring read, bursting with insight and good humor. As unpretentious as a buck-toothed, skinned-knee, ugly third princess, but likely to rise slyly into poetry at any moment. Where day is "pale and unconvincing night," and lightning-bolt pompadours lick the ceiling, and clam-digging godmothers know what's best. Only a foolish fool indeed would miss this one!

Rating:
Summary: A terrific story!
Review: This is a breath of fresh air -- a genuinely different (better!) story that delights everyone who picks it up in our home. Written with a playful zest that keeps us all coming back again and again.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful read!
Review: This is a delightful book! As a parent and a special education teacher, I recommend this to anyone who appreciates fairy tales but also likes to keep them in balance with reality. In the classroom, I plan to use this book with 4th and 5th grade students who will enjoy and learn from the adventures and self discovery of Princess Rose.

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious and heartwarming
Review: This wonderful book is an extremely clever and delightfully witty reinvention of a classic fairy tale. Younger readers will love the whimsical and exciting tale of Pricess Rose and her hilarious adventures; older readers will also appreciate the perceptiveness and insight that informs the underlying moral of this story. I think this has the makings of a modern classic! I loved this book!

Rating:
Summary: An Exciting Fairytale For All Ages!!!!!!!!!
Review: Usually princesses are beautiful....but not in this fairytale!!Instead, Rose has buckteeth, and short, stringy hair-hardly what you would expect a princess to look like.You won't be able to put down this book-or rather chestprotecter-Rose is much smarter than your usual beautiful fairytale princess.But when Prince Parsley visits Couscous to find a bride, everything changes and Eleanor(Rose's fairygodmother)turns Rose into the most beautiful princess ever!Choose between a Test and a Quest to turn Rose back to normal.You'll meet characters like Jasper, a Wiseman pretending to be a Fool, just to save Couscous from ignorance!In the story you'll meet characters beyond your imagination!You'll love this book more than any other book you've read in your life!