Once upon a Test: Three Light Tales of Love [Library Binding]

Vivian Vande Velde (Author), Diane Dawson Hearn (Illustrator)

Book Description

Three humorous fairy tales in which the princes and princesses behave in unconventional ways.

Product Details

• Library Binding: 31 pages
• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co (October 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807560707
• ISBN-13: 978-0807560709
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,372,922 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A slender collection of short stories, May 6, 2002

By 

Jennifer Mo - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Once upon a Test: Three Light Tales of Love (Library Binding)

Vivian Vande Velde's short stories are often quite good, and the three in Once Upon a Test are no exception. The only problem is that there are only three of them, and all of them are short-- totaling about thirty pages and requiring no more than fifteen minutes to read. They're all bound up in what looks like a hardback picturebook with mediocre black and white full panel drawings by Diane Dawson Hearn.

The three short stories, "For Love of Sunny," "Not for Love nor Money," and "Love is Blind" are written in a style that may be familiar to anyone who has read Vande Velde's other short stories, as seen in Curses, Inc., Tales From the Brothers Grimm and Sisters Weird, and most particularly, The Rumpelstiltskin Problem. The stories all feature the popular fairy tale theme of accomplishing seemingly impossible tasks in order to win the princess-- or the prince, in the case of the first story, which is a fun twist on the genders traditionally assigned to rescuer and rescued. The second story proposes the question of whether the hardships imposed by these tasks are even worth the rewards, and the third is a sweeter, less cynical story in which kindness and honesty, not bravado, win the day.

These stories are clever, amusing, and exactly as they are described-- light tales of love-- but they are not as singularly brilliant as some of Vivian Vande Velde's other short stories are, like "Lost Soul" and "Straw Into Gold." A good book to check out from the library (and especially recommended to fans of Gail Carson Levine's Princess Tales series), but Vivian Vande Velde's novels and longer short story collections are better examples of her witty prose and unique characterizations.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great book, July 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Once upon a Test: Three Light Tales of Love (Library Binding)

One of my favorite authors of all times is Vivian Vande Velde. I love all of her books, and I really like this novel too. I wished the stories were a little bit longer, but all in all, I thought the book was awesome. I'll recommend this book to any romance fan, or just a booklover.