The Ugly Princess and the Wise Fool [Hardcover]

Margaret Gray (Author), Randy Cecil (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Can a seafaring fairy godmother, a wise fool, and an enchanted hairstyle keep Princess Rose out of trouble?

"A very long time ago, when all the countries you’ve ever heard of were in different places on the map, a princess was born who was not beautiful. She wasn’t even remotely pretty, and the whole kingdom was in deep shock about it."

Princess Rose doesn’t get any prettier as she grows up, but the kingdom does get over its shock. Everyone adores the skinny, buck-toothed princess, and she doesn’t mind her appearance—until the handsomest prince in the world comes looking for a bride. Despite warnings from her seafaring fairy godmother and a wise fool named Jasper, reckless Rose wishes for beauty. She gets her wish, and the prince, but finds neither is as nice as she had expected.

 

The Ugly Princess and the Wise Fool is a 2003 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This determinedly perky first novel satirizes fairy tale conventions, sometimes wittily but often thinly. "A very long time ago, when all the countries you've ever heard of were in different places on the map," Gray begins invitingly, "a princess was born who was not beautiful.... The whole kingdom was in deep shock about it." Buck-toothed and skinny, freckled, with cropped hair, Rose also has a "wonderful character" and a "quick mind." Readers will know right away they are in for a lesson about beauty being in the eyes of the beholder, and when the author introduces a second story line-wherein the king has banned wise men and one of the wisest of them, Jasper, finds employment as a fool at court-readers will also know who that beholder is going to be. The author jazzes up the inevitable with a mild diversion or two. When a particularly handsome prince comes a-courting, Rose's fairy godmother grants Rose's ill-considered wish to be "more beautiful than anyone has ever been." Then, when Rose (predictably) repents, she and Jasper implore the fairy godmother to reverse the spell. Unlike such tweaked fairy tales as Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted or Francesca Lia Block's The Rose and the Beast, this story is played chiefly for laughs, not deeper meanings. Cecil's (Daisy Locks and the Three Bears) b&w art similarly concentrates on obvious humor. Ages 9-up.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5-In all of those tales that begin with "Once upon a time," the princesses are always beautiful, and handsome princes always love them. Here, those fairy-tale conventions are turned on end. Princess Rose-to the utter dismay and shock of her parents, sisters, and the entire kingdom of Couscous-is not beautiful at all. However, she turns out to be friendly and full of good humor. Couscous, as readers will discover, has another problem. The king has banned all wisdom because "he had an extremely simple mind." No one reads or writes or thinks deep thoughts. Jasper, a very clever young man, hatches a plot to become the king's fool until he can convince the monarch of the need for real wisdom. Jasper and Rose, kindred spirits, become fast friends. Enter handsome, but empty-headed Prince Parsley. Rose instantly falls for him and pleads with her fairy godmother to make her beautiful so that Parsley will notice her. Of course, beauty turns out not to be what Rose imagined and she and Jasper set out on a quest to return her to her former self. You can guess the rest. Gray strikes just the right balance between silliness and moral high-mindedness, and Cecil's illustrations convey the ridiculous state of affairs in Couscous. It's light fare, but good fun, and children will understand exactly what they're meant to learn without feeling that they've been hit over the head.
Sharon Grover, Arlington County Department of Libraries, VA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); First Edition edition (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805068473
• ISBN-13: 978-0805068474
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,050,100 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Light hearted and fun, August 13, 2003

By 

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

This review is from: The Ugly Princess and the Wise Fool (Hardcover)

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

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A cute and darlingly mixed-up fairy tale, October 10, 2002

By 

Heidi Anne Heiner (SurLaLune Fairy Tales.com) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Ugly Princess and the Wise Fool (Hardcover)

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

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for all ages, September 25, 2002

By 

shiara the witch "Leah" (Marietta, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ugly Princess and the Wise Fool (Hardcover)

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.