THE ORDINARY PRINCE

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Plus the illustrations by the author are lovely. Read this one when you're in the mood for a delightful and uncomplicated Happily Ever After. And make sure you get a copy with the author's illustrations. View all 34 comments. I don't read many children's books, but I was drawn to this one by its very beautiful cover which was actually the work of the author.

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Princess Amethyst was expected to be given the same princessy gifts by the fairy godmothers as her six elder elder sisters - and she did indeed receive charm and wit and grace and courage. She gave Amethyst the gift of ordinariness. Amy as she is nicknamed proves ordinariness doesn't mean dull and she shows her real gifts are the ones she finds within herself.

My Puffin edition gives a recommended readers' age of Jun 02, Kristin rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Amy, a smart, plucky, decidedly NOT classically beautiful princess, is given at birth the magical gift of being "ordinary". Years later, Amy reaches marriageable age. Since she isn't beautiful and vapid, her parents are quite worried whether any prince will have her, and there's some rash talk of giving her as the prize in a dragonslaying challenge.

She doesn't like this idea, and so she steals away in the night. To make ends meet, she works as a scullery maid in the kitchens of another kingdom. After a big occasion, she sneaks down to the kitchens to get some leftovers for her woodland friends a squirrel and a raven and meets Percy, a "man-of-all-work.

Unbeknownst to Amy, Percy is the prince of the kingdom--just as he has no idea that she is a runaway princess whose family is looking high and low for her.

The Ordinary Prince by Shahar Ben Halevi

Secret identities are revealed, Amy returns home, and Percy flabbergasts her family by showing up and asking for her hand in marriage. A great moral story for girls that shows that you can be yourself and be happy, and that it's okay not to look perfect. View all 4 comments. This was one of my favorite books as a child.

I recently reread it in a fit of nostalgia. I was disappointed that the fantastic cover has been replaced by some hot mess picture of an elven girl in a green dress. What happened to the 80's princess with freckles, frizzy brown hair, and a ridiculously ornate purple dress? Reading the book as an adult, I was so relieved to read an earnest fairy tale for once. So many "fairy tale princess books" on the market are hideous, smarmy, wink-wink tales This was one of my favorite books as a child. So many "fairy tale princess books" on the market are hideous, smarmy, wink-wink tales that blend modern humor with the fairy tale world, while practically screaming to the reader, "Look how clever and fresh I am!

I'm so witty that I'm appealing to both adults and children! I'm soaking in irony! I actually gagged in parts. And thank god for an inventive fairy tale story that takes itself seriously while turning fairy tale conventions upside down. Amy is a strong heroine that everyone can love. Yay for The Ordinary Princess! Yay for Princess Amy! Lavender's Blue dilly dilly View all 5 comments. Nov 02, Algernon rated it really liked it Shelves: They were in every way all that real princesses should be, for their hair was as yellow as the gold that is mined by the little gnomes in the mountains of the north, their eyes were as blue as the larkspurs in the palace gardens, and they had complexions like wild rose petals and cream.

This is not their story! Barbie clones with perfect hair and improbably slim waists are frankly boring. M M Kaye came to the same conclusion after re-reading some of her favorite classic children stories and set out to tell us about their seventh sister, Her Serene and Royal Highness the Princess Amethyst Alexandra Augusta Araminta Adelaide Aurelia Anne of Phantasmorania, also known as Amy.

Due to a slight misunderstanding and scheduling conflict at her christening, the last fairy godmother to bless her the slightly cranky and unpredictable Crustacea gave her the gift of Ordinariness, to the dismay of her royal parents and court attendants. The story of Amy who may be not beautiful, but nevertheless enjoys her ordinary life, often evading from her luxurious chambers in a high tower to play in the forest where she makes friends with a raven, a squirell and some children from the village, is not only educational but also funny and charming, told in a simple language that pays homage to the classics references to Sleeping Beauty and Snow White are quite obvious while including enough modern and subversive elements to attract the children of the atomic age.

True, the splendid jewels and brocades of the kings and princes and barons were quite out of place on her homely little person, but the fairy gifts had been very useful, for though she was ordinary, she possessed health, wit, courage, charm, and cheerfulness. But because she was not beautiful, no one ever seemed to notice these other qualities, which is so often the way of the world. Shying away from arrangements to get her married, and fearing to be a burden to her parents, Amy runs away from home, wandering through the forests in the company of her raven and squirell, until the real world with its material concerns intrudes: Go to work, said the old lady.

Use your own head, child. So Amy hires herself as the seventeenth kitchen maid in the kitchens of a neighboring kingdom, where her natural cheerfulness takes in stride backbreaking drudgery work for long hours and little pay with a song in her heart. By this time, most readers will be thoroughly enchanted with Amy, and will not mind the predictable turn of events when a similarly ordinary boy meets Amy and takes her off for weekend walks and picnics to her beloved forest one of his names is Algernon, just like my avatar here.

What really surprised me was how good Kaye is as an illustrator, an aspect of her talent I was unaware of. All the images in the story are drawn by the author, and they are just as fun and charming as the text. Recommended for reading to children and grandchildren, For if a time ever comes when children turn up their noses at such things as fairy tales and Father Christmas and Halloween, the world will be a lot duller — and not nearly such a nice place to live in! Mind you folks that this is straight up fairytale released in the 80's , and the target demographic are tweens, so the writing is more classic children's book than YA.

I love this precious book nonetheless. This is a story of Princess Amy of Phantasmorania, who has mousy brown hair and a freckled nose, because she was gifted with ordinariness at birth obviously,her fairy godmother was drunk. Long story short, she runs away , meets an ordinary guy.

They fall in love, identities revealed and they live happily ever after hide spoiler ]. Tween girls, and even boys, need to read this charming tale and the message it conveys. One, that you can be your own kind of beautiful and the people who matter will see that beauty. A fairy tale about ordinary looking people? I am so sick and tired of ravishing beauties and hot as fuck playboy millionaires getting all the fantastic adventures and mistaken identities!

Nov 22, Allison Tebo rated it it was amazing Shelves: From the authors note at the very beginning I was pulled into the most deliciously whimsical book. Five gloriously, shining stars for this amazing book bumped it up one — it is one of the sweetest stories I have read in a long time with a beautiful style, delightful characters, and a sweet and funny message.

The beautiful and amazing illustrations are also absolutely charming. This was the perfect bedtime reading - so soothingly and fun. What a joy fairy tales are! What a sadly overlooked and u From the authors note at the very beginning I was pulled into the most deliciously whimsical book. What a sadly overlooked and underrated slice of goodness. I can't wait to buy my own copy - this is a book to be petted, cherished and share. Oct 09, Becky rated it liked it Shelves: Oh my goodness, this was such a delightful book! I'm glad that I picked it up - sometimes it's easy to discount these kinds of books, but this one is a perfect example of why it's silly to do so.

All throughout history, the seventh daughter has been the most beautiful, the most extraordinary princess of them all - but not this time. This time, the most powerful Fairy, Crustacea, is out of patience when she arrives, dela Oh my goodness, this was such a delightful book! This time, the most powerful Fairy, Crustacea, is out of patience when she arrives, delayed by traffic, at the christening of little baby Amy - and gives her the gift of ordinary.

Of course this is a travesty and a tragedy to the royal court, and a never-ending source of shame and embarrassment to the King and Queen - but Amy is perfectly happy to be herself and not stiffly proper and bored. When she is of an age to marry, and her suitors have all seen her and then just remembered urgent appointments that they had forgotten, her father decides to take matters into his own hands well, at the advice of his council , and endeavors to hire a dragon to lay waste to the kingdom in the hopes that some enterprising young prince will come to slay it in return for the princess's hand.

Amy catches wind of this plot, and wants no part of it, so she runs away to seek her own fortune. I loved the wit and the humor in this story. I found myself giggling at the descriptions of the royalty and the extremes that they will go to to get their way.

I also really loved Peregrine, the man-of-all-work that Amy meets. He is such a sweet and honest person, and accepts Amy for who she really is, rather than what she looks like. I have to say that in this children's book, I found myself thinking that the romance was sweeter and more moving than in some of the adult romance novels I've read.

The Ordinary Prince

This is definitely a feel-good keeper of a book. I loved the message that no matter who you are, or where you come from, being yourself will bring you happiness. This would have been one of my favorite books had I read it as a kid. I found it both enchanting and fun to read, reading it for the first time as an adult.

Love the twist on the standard fairy tale. The illustrations by the author are lovely. View all 9 comments. Nov 12, Talltree rated it really liked it Shelves: Quaint, witty and adorable fairy tale romance novella about an Ordinary but very likeable princess and how she finds her HEA. Would have give it 5 stars if only it wasn't a clean romance. View all 3 comments. Cute, sweet, hilarious, perfect A whimsical, beautiful, original fairytale.

I want to reread it already. Also the illustrations are absolutely fabulous. I loved the plot, the humor, the total fairytale-feel, the Englishness, the Ordinary Princess herself, and of course Peregrine. How it all turned out was just awesome. So last night I did, and devoured it all over again in an hour and a half. The king even makes a reference to his great-great-something-grandmother, who evidently WAS Sleeping Beauty! To say much more would be to spoil the marvelous tale, but be assured that whether you like new or old tales, it will satisfy you either way.

All of this makes perfect sense. Then the characters, all of whom are fabulous. Seriously, the whole thing is fabulous like that.

Oh my goodness, Peregrine was so wonderful! His lines, so British and fantastic, and only he would be met eating ice cream in the middle of the night in the midst of the leftovers of a banquet! And they two of them together are just perfect and sweet and funny. I love them so much. The perfect fairytale mix of whimsical, fun, lovely, and slightly worried hoping everything will turn out all right, but being fairly sure it will, with a few twists which are absolutely perfect.

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View all 6 comments. Jul 14, Jessica rated it it was amazing Shelves: As delightful as I remembered! The kids really liked it, too! This is sort of a rare thing these days, in that it's a romance for children. Princess Amy's age is never talked about, but the entire book she's trying to dodge a horrible arranged marriage, and falls in love on her own. Sweet and charming, and I'd forgotten what a hilarious satire it is of classic fairy tales. Nov 30, Courtney Johnston rated it really liked it Shelves: Last night I was so tired that I found myself crying for pretty much no reason. Just those small soft tears that come out and surprise you.

I'm five weeks into the job of my life so far, anyway and I was exhausted. And scanning my shelves for something soothing to take to bed - something that would both settle my mind and make me happy - I settled on 'The Ordinary Princess'. I remember borrowing and borrowing this book from my primary school library; I can see even now the shelf it sat on. Year Last night I was so tired that I found myself crying for pretty much no reason. The modern cover looks awful to my nostalgic eyes - far too elven.

Kaye's gently subversive fairytale came slightly before the fashion for so-ironic-it-hurts revisions of these narratives contrast its softer tone to that of 'The Princess Bride'. There's an element of adult humour in it. Traditionally, seventh daughters are the most blessed, and baby Amethyst is as petal-skinned and pacific as can be.

Against her father's better judgement 'You are all going to tell me that it is the custom of our kingdom to invite all fairies to the christening of a seventh daughter. The Princess receives gifts and nice qualities in spades - Wit, Charm, Courage, Charm - and then the powerful Crustacea turns up, delayed by traffic and in a bit of a mood. Crustacea assesses the situation and decides to give the child 'something that will probably bring more happiness than all these fal-lals and fripperies put together' - the gift of ordinariness.

The gift takes hold immediately - the Princess's pink and white face screws up into something resembling a squashed tomato, and she starts to shriek. From this point on, the Princess becomes steadily more ordinary: She grew up as gawky as possible, with a distressing habit of standing with her feet apart and her hands behind her back, and hair of a colour that not even a court poet could describe as anything but just plain mouse.

But though she proved every day how strong the old Fairy Crustacea's magic had been, her other christening gifts were not entirely wasted.

True, the splendid jewels and brocades of the kings and princes and barons were quite out of place on her homely little person, but the fairy gifts had been very useful, for though she was ordinary, she possessed health, wit, charm and cheerfulness. But because she was not beautiful, no one ever seemed to notice these other qualities, which is so often the the way of the world. Not that it ever worried the Ordinary Princess. Rather than satisfy herself tossing about a golden ball in the garden with her six perfect sisters, Amy turns into a hidden rebel.

After her nurse puts her to bed each night, she slips out her tower window, clambers down the wisteria, and disappears into the Faraway Forest, to roam at will. And she grows up happy and well-adjusted - but unmarriable. Princes and Dukes and Barons visit Phantasmorania to woo the legendary seventh daughter - then make a hurried escape the day after arriving, shocked into leaving by Amy's ordinariness. Okay - writing this up, it sounds like prettiness is the be all and end all of life.

And that's not the message of the book In desperation, one of the courtiers comes up with a scheme to hire a dragon to lay waste to the countryside, drawing in suitor-heroes who, in a rush of bravado, will suddenly find themselves wed to the Ordinary Princess. Amy, when she discovers the plot, takes life into her own hands. She swops a grand gown for a humble frock, scampers down the wisteria, and heads off to the Faraway Forest leaving behind an explanatory note for her parents, because she's thoughtful like that.

From here the story unfolds, as Amy enters further and further into real life: She meets a nice young footman and Perhaps a little too much fuss is made of Amy's physical ordinariness for me to be able to enjoy this book quite as I used to as a child who never felt pretty though, boy, did I empathise first with Amy at primary school then Cassandra Mortmain with her 'plain, rather clever' face during high school.

The Ordinary Princess

But one thing that still appealed just as much as it did when I was 9 or 10 was Kaye's ability to write lusciously enjoyable lists: In the royal kitchens two hundred and twenty cooks, four hundred scullions, as many serving-men and five hundred kitchen-maids worked like mad, baking cakes and pies and pastries.

They stuffed swans and peacocks and boars' heads, and made wonderful sweets - marzipan trees hung with crystallised cherries, and castles and dragons and great ships of sugar candy. Five cooks from Italy worked on the christening cake, which was decorated with hundreds of sugar bells and crystallised roses, and was so tall that they had to stand on silver step-ladders to ice it. The next is a little bit of spoiler, but I re-read it with such pleasure early this morning that I want to add it here.

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The chances that any of the three of you that read these things might read this book are so vanishingly slim that I may as well indulge myself. The Ordinary Princess smiled a little secret smile to herself and said: Fifthly and sixthly, they are graceful and accomplished. Seventhly, they have names like Persephone and Sapphire and Roxanne. And lastly,' said Peregrine, running out of fingers, 'they are all excessively proper and extremely dull This was the sweetest story.

It's very short, but that's just fine, and it has an innocence that is so hard to find these days. Amy is such an endearing character.

You sympathize with her at once because so few off us are drop dead gorgeous and wish her the best. I first read this when I was eight, and I loved it. I read it again when I was fifteen, and discovered that I loved it even more than my eight-year-old counterpart did. And I still love it.

That is probably the best way to tell if a b This was the sweetest story. Ellie rated it it was amazing Oct 12, Nikki rated it did not like it Oct 20, Jec rated it liked it Apr 13, Twisha Solgama rated it did not like it Apr 12, Adam rated it liked it Aug 04, Tom Leonard rated it did not like it Nov 20, Deborah A Blodgett rated it it was amazing Jan 31, Joyce Chow rated it really liked it Dec 16, Meche rated it really liked it Nov 09, R Anthony rated it it was amazing Aug 16, Je rated it it was amazing Jun 04, Rhonda Kirschmann rated it really liked it Dec 16, Amber rated it it was ok May 16, Julian Tan rated it really liked it Dec 03, Alina rated it it was amazing Jun 05, Dvora rated it it was amazing Dec 20, Joyce Andrews rated it it was amazing May 20, Josie rated it it was ok Feb 08, Alex added it Dec 03, Christina Browne marked it as to-read Dec 04, Roxanne marked it as to-read Dec 21, Kristin marked it as to-read Jan 17, Laura marked it as to-read Apr 06, Jennifer marked it as to-read May 06, Sara Elmaksoud marked it as to-read May 10, Caroline Tan marked it as to-read May 27, Casandra Bullard marked it as to-read Mar 04, Ayna marked it as to-read Mar 30, Lola marked it as to-read May 17, Sarah Hazlett marked it as to-read May 22, Matthew marked it as to-read Jun 20, Alwyn is currently reading it Aug 08, Anna marked it as to-read Dec 14, Lindsie marked it as to-read Dec 14, Maryam Slim marked it as to-read Jan 06, Grace marked it as to-read Feb 13, Stephk marked it as to-read Mar 01, Ropafadzo marked it as to-read Mar 27, Claire Bresee marked it as to-read May 25, Amanda marked it as to-read Nov 01, Jaylord added it Feb 27, Deeya marked it as to-read Aug 27, Cinnia marked it as to-read Dec 05, Doreen added it Jun 02, Patricia Dugan marked it as to-read Sep 09, There are no discussion topics on this book yet.

About Shahar Ben Halevi. Shahar Ben Halevi is a professional media person with over 20 years of experience in the industry.

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