For Biddle's Sake (Princess Tales)

Levine, Gail Carson

ISBN 10: 0060000953 ISBN 13: 9780060000950

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2002

Synopsis

There she was, chartreuse and warty and smiling at him. Such a nice smile. Something in his heart fluttered.

The young maiden, Parsley, will eat nothing but parsley, which in Snettering-on-Snoakes grows only in the fairy Bombina's garden. All is well -- until Bombina is released from the fairy queen's dungeon. Her crime? Failing to get along with humans. And turning them into toads!

Meanwhile, twin princes Randolph and Rudolph are causing trouble at Biddle Castle and pinning everything on their younger brother, Tansy. Prince Tansy cares about Biddle. Randolph and Rudolph don't. But one of the twins will be king, unless Prince Tansy accepts help from a green Biddlebum Toad!

A delightful retelling of the little-known German fairy tale "Puddocky." this fifth Princess Tale from Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Levine shows that nothing is quite as it seems and that anything is possible, with a dash of magic and a barrel of love.

About this title

About the Author:

Gail Carson Levine's first book for children, Ella Enchanted, was a Newbery Honor Book. Levine's other books include Ever, a New York Times bestseller; Fairest, a Best Book of the Year for Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal, and a New York Times bestseller; Dave at Night, an ALA Notable Book and Best Book for Young Adults; The Wish; The Two Princesses of Bamarre; A Tale of Two Castles; and the six Princess Tales books. She is also the author of the nonfiction books Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly and Writer to Writer: From Think to Ink, as well as the picture books Betsy Who Cried Wolf and Betsy Red Hoodie. Gail Carson Levine and her husband, David, live in a two-centuries-old farmhouse in the Hudson Valley of New York State.

From Booklist:

Reviewed with Gail Carson Levine's The Fairy's Return.

Gr. 3-5. Once upon a time, when a young girl asked a librarian for a princess book, she meant a traditional fairy tale featuring a princess. Now, as likely as not, she wants a book from Levine's series the Princess Tales, small volumes that borrow elements from folk-tales to create lively, new stories. In Fairy's Return, a princess falls in love with the third son of a baker, a young man whose jokes make her laugh. With both parents resisting the marriage, it takes determination, imagination, and the intervention of a wish-granting fairy to bring this couple to the point of "happily ever after." For Biddle's Sake introduces Parsley, a sweet-natured girl raised by the fairy Bombina, who struggles with an obsessive drive to turn people into toads. After many years of relative control, she flies into a fit of rage and transforms her beloved Parsley. Only a marriage proposal from a human can return Parsley to her previous form. A few black-and-white drawings illustrate the stories, but the real draw of these attractively designed books is the inventive use of folkloric elements woven into charming, original stories. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0060000953
• ISBN 13: 9780060000950
• Binding: Library Binding
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 112
• Illustrator: Elliott Mark