The Fairy's Return (Princess Tales) [Library Binding]

Gail Carson Levine (Author), Mark Elliott (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: Princess Tales

Boy meets princess, and it's love at first sight. Both laugh of the same jokes. Both are named after birds. His name is Robin, hers is Lark. Could there ever have been a more perfect match?

But alas! King Harrumphrey won't let Lark marry a baker's son. And Robin is betrothed to someone else.

Now toss in Robin's nonsense-talking brothers, Nat and Matt, their versifying father, and Ethelinda, the fairy who wrought havoc in The Fairy's Mistake, and you've got a "nutcrazical" situation!

A hilarious spoof on 'The Golden Goose" by the Brothers Grimm, The Fairy's Return is the sixth Princess Tale from beloved Newbery Honor author and master fairy tale reteller Gail Carson Levine.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A pair of titles join Gail Carson Levine's Princess Tales series, illus. by Mark Elliott: The Fairy's Return, a spoof on "The Golden Goose"; and For Biddle's Sake, based on a little-known German tale, "Puddocky," about a girl who must put her own magic to work in order to fight off her guardian fairy's penchant for turning people into toads. (Oct.)
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6-Light and breezy additions to the series. In For Biddle's Sake, young Parsley is turned into a toad by Bombina the fairy, and must convince Prince Tansy, the long-suffering younger brother of mean twins, to propose marriage to her in order to break the spell. In The Fairy's Return, a princess and a baker's son are infatuated with one another; Lark loves that Robin dares to joke with her, and Robin loves that she enjoys his jokes. Both fathers are against the friendship, and so years pass, until they are 15 and can finally wed after a fairy helps Robin perform three impossible tasks. Elements of various fairy tales, including "The Golden Goose," "Rapunzel," and "Puddocky," make their way into these funny stories. Eccentric and misguided characters abound; Robin's father, who fancies himself a genius poet, comes up with non-rhyming gems like, "Royalty and commoners must never mix./Remember this, or you will be in a predicament." Kids will love figuring what word he should have used in each poem, they'll cheer for the plucky heroines, and they'll relish the fairy-tale endings.
Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Library Binding: 112 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (October 8, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0066238013
• ISBN-13: 978-0066238012
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,307,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gail Carson Levine grew up in New York City and has been writing all her life. Her first book for children, Ella Enchanted, was a 1998 Newbery Honor Book. Levine's other books include Dave At Night, an ALA Notable Book and Best Book for Young Adults; The Wish; The Two Princesses of Bamarre; and her Princess Tales books: The Princess Test, The Fairy's Mistake, Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep, Cinderellis and the Glass Hill, For Biddle's Sake and The Fairy's Return. She is also the author of the picture book Betsy Who Cried Wolf, illustrated by Scott Nash. Gail, her husband, David, and their Airedale, Baxter, live in a two-hundred-year-old farmhouse in the Hudson River Valley.

In Her Own Words..."I grew up in New York City. In elementary school I was a charter member of the Scribble Scrabble Club, and in high school my poems were published in an anthology of student poetry. I didn't want to be a writer. First I wanted to act and then I wanted to be a painter like my big sister. In college, I was a Philosophy major, and my prose style was very dry and dull! My interest in the theater led me to my first writing experience as an adult. My husband David wrote the music and lyrics and I wrote the book for a children's musical, Spacenapped that was produced by a neighborhood theater in Brooklyn.

"And my painting brought me to writing for children in earnest. I took a class in writing and illustrating children's books and found that I was much more interested in the writing than in the illustrating.

"Most of my job life has had to do with welfare, first helping people find work and then as an administrator. The earlier experience was more direct and satisfying, and I enjoy thinking that a bunch of people somewhere are doing better today than they might have done if not for me."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Addition, October 15, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Fairy's Return (Princess Tales) (Hardcover)

The Fairy's Return is a retelling of the golden goose story. Robin and Princess Lark love each other, but King Harrumphrey forbids their marriage. All seems lost until the fairy Ethelinda intervenes. This story is filled with subtle wit and plays on words. If you enjoy humor and fairy tales, read The Fairy's Return!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Light humor, likeable main characters, July 13, 2003

By 

Jim Carson "http://www.jimcarson.com" (Bellevue, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fairy's Return (Princess Tales) (Hardcover)

The Fairy's return is a mishmash of Romeo & Juliet (without the henchmen), The Golden Goose, and others set within the Princess Tales mythology. It's a fairly quick read with more depth than "The Princess Test," but not as much main character development as "Cinderellis and the Glass Hill."

Robin is considered an imbecile in his family because he likes to tell jokes instead of making up words (like his two elder brothers Nat and Matt) or create poems (like his father Jake). He wants to be accepted -- a common theme in these stories -- but his relatives won't.

Robin stumbles upon Lark, the also-bird-named princess to the kingdom of Biddle. They hit it off because they treat each other as normal people. Unfortunately, Robin's a commoner, and the two are discouraged from meeting again, though we know they're destined to.

Robin has more of a personality than some of the other princes-to-be of the other Gail Carson Levine stories, and it's interesting to glimpse into his struggle. He likes her, he's not sure she likes him, he gets discouraged, starts to have hope, etc.

The subplots are not as enchanting as the other stories. King Humphrey has a speech impediment that causes him to harrumph every word. There is one scene where this is pretty funny because he's describing what he wants done while his scribe is attempting to translate it to English (Biddlish?). It's a bit much to read aloud, however.

On the other hand, the quests Robin must fulfill are absurdly funny, and listening to him work out how to build a ship that works as well on land as it does the sea is amusing.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Fairy's Return, November 9, 2003

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Fairy's Return (Princess Tales) (Hardcover)

I got this book from the library and it is a wonderful book! It's really funny and kinda sweet! I love it. Two thumbs up!
And you should also try ELLA ENCHANTED, another incredable book!