The Ordinary Princess [Paperback]

M. M. Kaye (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: March 18, 2002 | Age Range: 8 and up | Lexile Measure: 1090L (What's this?)

Along with Wit, Charm, Health, and Courage, Princess Amy of Phantasmorania receives a special fairy christening gift: Ordinariness. Unlike her six beautiful sisters, she has brown hair and freckles, and would rather have adventures than play the harp, embroider tapestries . . . or become a Queen. When her royal parents try to marry her off, Amy runs away and, because she's so ordinary, easily becomes the fourteenth assistant kitchen maid at a neighboring palace. And there . . . much to everyone's surprise . . . she meets a prince just as ordinary (and special) as she is!

"This delightful fairy tale is sure to please young romantics . . . Neither Kaye's princess nor her book should be considered ordinary." (School Library Journal)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A godmother's final "gift" transforms what should be the luckiest princess and most comely of all (born seventh, a good omen) into an ordinary-looking girl. But that does not stop Princess Amy from living an extraordinary life: she runs away from home when she is promised to a royal stranger. Ages 8-up.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Age Range: 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Puffin; Reprint edition (March 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142300853
• ISBN-13: 978-0142300855
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (134 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #26 in Books > Children's Books > Travel & Cultures > Royalty

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 83 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A fairy tale favorite March 17, 2004

By Laura Bellamy

Format:Paperback

This was one of my very favorite books as a child, and I was crushed when it went out of print and I lost my own copy. When I learned a few years ago that it was being re-printed, I was overjoyed.

"The Ordinary Princess" is a delightful fairy tale with a bit of a twist -- the herione is NOT the mind-bogglingly gorgeous fairy tale princess we have come to expect. At birth, she is cursed by an ornery fairy..."You shall be ORDINARY!" Much to the embarrassment of the royal family, the curse immediately begins to manifest itself, and continues to do so throughout the course of the princess's life. She is overlooked in favor of her six extremely beautiful and perfectly-princessy older sisters. No matter what the royal court tries, Princess Amy remains as normal as any peasant.

"The Ordinary Princess" follows the quest of Princess Amy to make something of an ordinary life for herself, to go along with her very ordinary appearance. During which time, she meets -- and falls in love with -- a young "man-of-all-work" named Peregrine.

I shall not reveal to you how splendidly it ends, but it is absolutely charming. There are very few perfect books in this world, but this just happens to be one of them. It is clever and witty in its writing, charming in its story (as all fairy tales SHOULD be) and simple and sweet in its execution. It is every little girl's dream to be a princess, and this is an excellent princess story. Delightful from start to finish.

I admit to not being overly fond of the reprint's cover -- I preferred the original cover art -- but at least all of the orginial illustrations are included in this. M.M. Kaye not only wrote this book, she also illustrated it herself, and the drawings only augment the tale, making it even better than it already is....

I would recommend this book to anyone who asked me, and have, in fact, hooked quite a few of my friends on it. You don't even have to be a little girl to love it, my college buddies have adored it just as much as I always have.

Read it. You won't regret it. Read more ›

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fairy tale March 6, 2002

By E. A Solinas HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Tired of the usual Disneyfied blonde, sweet, graceful, elegant princesses? Read this book, in which we see a princess unlike any other. I'm glad that it will be reprinted shortly, as a fantasy story this good deserves to be read again and again.

The story opens in the kingdom of Phantasmorania (great name, no?), where the seventh royal princess is born. At first, Amethyst Alexandra Augusta Araminta Adelaide Aurelia Anne appears to be like any other beautiful, good-tempered princess. But then a crabby but well-meaning fairy puts a two-edged blessing on her: "You shall be ordinary!" And she is. To the dismay of the royals and the court, Amy is mousy-haired, snub-nosed, freckled, and thoroughly graceless. She prefers romping in the woods to drifting around playing with a golden ball, as her sisters do.

Dismayed, her parents try to rig up a crisis to get her married off. But Amy doesn't want to be treated in such a way, and has no wish to embarrass her family. So she sets off across the woods, and enters a neighboring kingdom, where she becomes a kitchen maid and has to work for the first time in her life. There she befriends a squirrel and a bird - and a mystery "man of all work" named Perry, who becomes her best friend...

M.M. Kaye, best known for her tales of India and other exotic lands, pens a delightful little fantasy story. This is not an epic, nor does it have ground-shattering impact on the world. Instead it is a smaller, more personal story about an ordinary girl who happens to be a princess. Amy's love story is charming as well, since she and Perry CHOOSE rather than are chosen. It also adds an extra dimension to their romance, since they are friends as well. Amy doesn't give in to fate, she makes her own. I know this sounds like a feminist retelling, but it isn't.... Believe me, there is no preaching in it - rather it glories in ordinary but overlooked virtues.

The kingdoms in this book are delightfully overstated. The people in the courts tend to be overstuffed, pompous, full of hot-air, and dripping with jewels and impractical clothing. The blonde, beautiful princesses do not have individual personalities, nor do most of the kings and so forth. The more sympathetic characters like Perry, Clorinda, and the crusty water-fairy are both more relaxed and casual, and more realistic. And younger girls will probably want their own Perry.

Writing is fairly un-detailed, but that is in keeping with the fairy-tale motif. Subtle humor is sprinkled through it, such as the fairy godmother's crusty but kindly attitude, and the joke about the prince of Kleptomania, who has to be watched carefully. The dialogue is realistic but never boring, especially when Perry and Amy are talking, or when the courtiers are gabbling among themselves.

Problems? Well, it's way too short. There's no sequel. And the new reprinting -- ay caramba, who chose that cover art? It makes Amy look about five years old - she's supposed to be a teen! I do hope they retain her delightful internal illustrations, including Amy's soggy grandmother, Perry, and the little house in the woods.

This enchanting story will leave you with a smile. One of the best, for people who loved "Ella Enchanted" and "Beauty." Read more ›

30 of 35 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars "My child, you shall be Ordinary!" December 15, 2003

By R. M. Fisher TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

When the seventh daughter of King Hulderbrand and Queen Rodehesia is born, the kingdom of Phantasmorania is in a state of extreme excitement. The birth of the seventh in a line of beautiful, blonde, angelic princesses, all named after precious jewels, is a special occasion. Baby Princess Amethyst is set to receive several virtues from the good fairies of the land, despite her father's misgivings, and the entire kingdom is celebrating.

But things do not always go as planned, as one fairy in particular is in a bit of a grumpy mood, and not at all eagar to dish out any more Wit, Charm, Courage, Health, Wisdom or Grace - instead she bestows the infant with Ordinariness, and at once Amethyst's golden curls are mousey, her perfect nose is covered in freckles, and her previously cooing baby-talk changes into a very loud scream. As she grows, the stately name of Amethyst drops to the simple "Amy", and her days are not filled with embroidery and harp-playing, but exersions into the Forest of Faraway.

Yet each of her sisters is eventually married off, and soon her parents despair of doing the same to her. A plot is hatched: to hire a dragon to ravage the land in the hopes that a Prince will come to rescue Amy, trapped in a high tower. Amy is disguisted at such a plan, and takes off for the forest, where she begins her own adventures...

M. M. Kaye's "The Ordinary Princess" is without a doubt a charming book, made all the more so by her simple, realistic, and often whimsical illustrations. The creation of an ordinary princess is a welcome to the world of literature in which beauty is predominant among descriptions of heroes and princesses, and it was one of the first of many similar journeys into "ugliness" as a virtue (the most well known being "Shrek").... Amy is a good-natured, intelligent, polite girl, and her love story is natural and realistic (well, as realistic as a love story set in a fairytale kingdom can be).

However, though the story will appeal very much to young girls, older readers might find the sheer simplicity of the story a little too easy for them. For them, the true identity of Peregrin the man-of-all-work is almost painfully obvious from the word go, and the somewhat cliched descriptions of palaces (marble, diamonds, chandeliers) may be a little well-used. Furthermore, Amy's "adventures" are not exactly adventurous - there is no dragon-slaying or evil-fighting, she simply spends time in the forest with her animal friends, before seeking out work in another kingdom and meeting her true love. Though M. M. Kaye made the first step back in 1980 in creating a strong female character without the vice of beauty upon her, there was still a fair way to go before women's quests in literature were not defined solely by finding their true love.

Yes, I feel a bit mean critising such a sweet, harmless story, but blame my English lecturers and their lectures on the history of feminity in literature - they've made me analyse everything I read! On the whole, there's not a lot to truly dislike about this classic fairy tale, but for those who want to go a bit deeper into the issues raised in "The Ordinary Princess", try: "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine (which will appeal more to the older readers I mentioned earlier), "The Lioness" Quartet by Tamora Pierce, for even older ones, "A Frog Prince" by Alix Berenzy, a new take on the old fairytale, "Which Witch?" by Eva Ibbotson, who shares a similar sense of humour as M. M. Kaye, and of course "Shrek!" Read more ›