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The Ordinary Princess M M Kaye 9780142300855 Books

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The Ordinary Princess M M Kaye 9780142300855 Books

When I first came across this children's book, I was surprised that it was written by an author who had written so many books for adults, many of which I had read and loved. My curiosity piqued, I decided to take a closer look and read it. I noted two things that were of immediate interest. The first is that the author states in the foreword that she had been a fan of the Andrew Lang fairy books, which contained charmingly illustrated fairytales collected from over the world. As it happened, I myself had loved these very same books when I was young. Secondly, the books and their illustrations had influenced her to write her own fairytale and illustrate it herself.

This well-written, charming story centers around the seventh daughter of the King and Queen of the kingdom of Phantasmorania. All the princesses are named after precious stones. So, the seventh follows suit and is named Amethyst. Then, at the christening of this very beautiful baby girl, the unthinkable happens. Therein lies the tale.

Though the ending of the story is somewhat predictable, it is the journey to that happy ending that holds the reader's interest. The illustrations by the author that pepper this book are likewise charming. I do think it is a shame that in this reprint, the publisher chose not to utilize the author's own cover illustration, but instead commissioned another artist to do the cover art. That being said, I look forward to the day that I have a granddaughter, so that I may read her this lovely story, hoping that she will enjoy it as much as I did.


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The Ordinary Princess M M Kaye 9780142300855 Books Reviews

If you loved all the fairytales by Lang, and Grimm and Hand Christian Anderson but thought them just a bit grim (pardon the usage of words), you will love this book! I am almost as old as the Fairy Crustacea and I loved it. I liked the names in the book and the over the top descriptions and the drawings. The names made me laugh. And in the end, I wanted to run away from home and go live with Princess Amy. I hope you read this little jewel of a book and laugh too.
The Ordinary Princess is a classic fairy tale with a feminist twist, but without the often glaring cynicism and modernism of some feminist "fairy tales." The story is sweet, with ordinary fairy tale plot points, including a fairy godmother who gives a gift only appreciated by the recipient herself, dragons, friendly woodland animals, and a princess who runs away to become a kitchen maid. I love that there is still the traditional fairy tale ending, where the princess marries a king, and that she does it her own way, not the way her parents want her to. Throughout the book a verse is repeated, and we sing this, bringing music into the story as is recommended by Waldorf teachers. Some of the plot reminds me of the amazing E. Nesbit there is a plot to hire a dragon in order to get the princess wed, and the fairy godmother definitely sounds like something out of a Nesbit story.

My daughter is six, and she loves this story. It is a chapter book, with few pictures, so if your six-year-old isn't able to sit still and imagine her own pictures, you may want to look elsewhere. My daughter loves it she sings the verse over to herself throughout the day, and talks about herself as being the Ordinary Princess. Yesterday she said she needed to learn to cook, even though she was a Princess and her (pretend) mother didn't think it was important for princesses to cook, because the Ordinary Princess found her cooking skills really handy!

Beautiful. Thank you, Ms. Kaye.
THE ORDINARY PRINCESS was author M.M. Kaye's one foray into children's fairy tales, although I don't think readers of this enchanting story would've fussed if she'd stayed longer in the genre. In her foreword, M.M. Kaye remarks on how, when soaking in all those classic fairy tales, it struck her that most of the featured princesses were "blond, blue-eyed, and beautiful, with lovely figures and complexions and extravagantly long hair." THE ORDINARY PRINCESS is M.M. Kaye's nod to the, er, more genetically challenged populace. Clocking in at 112 pages, it's less of a novel, more of a novella, either way a treat.

In the kingdom of Phantasmorania, the locals are wont to celebrate their king and queen's beautiful six daughters. When the seventh princess, Amethyst, was born, there was much talk concerning her upcoming christening, the bone of contention being should the fairies of the land be invited to the festivity? But the king's cautionary words fall on deaf ears, and so the invitations are sent out. The fairies arrive with their magical blessings, with the most powerful fairy of them all, the Fairy Crustacea, stepping in last. She gazes at the Princess Amethyst and proclaims, "You shall be Ordinary!" Whoops.

As the years went on Princess Amethyst - or "Amy," as everyone comes to call her - has lived up to the Fairy Crustacea's "gift." Freckled-faced and mousy haired and with an upturned nose - the consternation of the royal household - Amy certainly embodies ordinariness and looks so unlike a princess that when the time comes, no prince wants to marry her. When her father the king puts into motion a tricky plot to get her married, Amy runs away and eventually finds herself in the neighboring kingdom.

It says something about M.M. Kaye's writing that even though The Ordinary Princess frolics in the woods, plays with woodland creatures, and even occasionally bursts into songs, there's still this streak of welcome unsentimentality. This book doesn't read as overly saccharine. It helps that Amy is such an appealing down-to-earth character. Her looks may be common but she's also smart and sunny-natured and not at all spoiled. She only visits the castle in the neighboring kingdom because her time in the woods had rendered her clothes all tattered. Amy aims to land a job, earn just enough to purchase new clothes and flee back into the woods. She quickly becomes the fourteenth assistant kitchen's maid at the castle and there runs into a young man labeling himself a man-of-all-work. They share an ice cream.

No wicked witches or ogres or monsters or epic quests. There could've been a dragon-slaying but that gets nipped in the bud. THE ORDINARY PRINCESS is a sweet and gentle fairy tale, written so that readers of whatever age can savor it. That this story is three decades old doesn't at all take away from its freshness and charm, and that lesson about being yourself doesn't ever get old. There's also a sweet love story here, and, instead of the "love at first sight" trope, the romance grows out of friendship and learning about each other over time. If this were to be adapted into an animated film I would hope that it's Hayao Miyazaki who gets his hands on it. This is right up his alley.

M.M. Kaye also illustrates the thing and, like everything else about this book, her etchings are pitch perfect. Every little girl should read this sensible fairy tale. Heck, everybody should read this fairy tale.
When I first came across this children's book, I was surprised that it was written by an author who had written so many books for adults, many of which I had read and loved. My curiosity piqued, I decided to take a closer look and read it. I noted two things that were of immediate interest. The first is that the author states in the foreword that she had been a fan of the Andrew Lang fairy books, which contained charmingly illustrated fairytales collected from over the world. As it happened, I myself had loved these very same books when I was young. Secondly, the books and their illustrations had influenced her to write her own fairytale and illustrate it herself.

This well-written, charming story centers around the seventh daughter of the King and Queen of the kingdom of Phantasmorania. All the princesses are named after precious stones. So, the seventh follows suit and is named Amethyst. Then, at the christening of this very beautiful baby girl, the unthinkable happens. Therein lies the tale.

Though the ending of the story is somewhat predictable, it is the journey to that happy ending that holds the reader's interest. The illustrations by the author that pepper this book are likewise charming. I do think it is a shame that in this reprint, the publisher chose not to utilize the author's own cover illustration, but instead commissioned another artist to do the cover art. That being said, I look forward to the day that I have a granddaughter, so that I may read her this lovely story, hoping that she will enjoy it as much as I did.