The Ugly Princess and the Wise Fool

by Margaret Gray, Randy Cecil (Illustrator)

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.

Genres: Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Romance, Humor

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Margaret Gray has been reading and writing fairy tales since she was a little girl, when her aversion to sports frustrated many gym teachers. She lives with her family in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[❀angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little amusing due to the mocking of common fairytale tropes/clichés but the plot is boring, easily forgettable. And the illustrations were just plain ugly.

[Jenifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm working on a pile of books and this one was an easy pick. It was fast and funny and had an illustration every other page or so. Nothing to complain about. This is one of those modern re-tellings that attempt to show the ridiculousness of our old standbys for instance; "Every daughter was expected to be more beautiful than the last one." And a fairy godmother who is so busy living on a fishing boat with her husband that she barely has time for her godmothering duties.

I know this isn't fair, but I knocked off a star because my old copy has been dropped in the tub and also was bought at the library used sale and has library stickers all over it. It was not a pleasure and it now has to go.

[Jain · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love juvenile fiction and read quite a bit of it, but this book still felt too "young" for my tastes. There were a few cute scenes, and the wise fool subplot was reasonably interesting, but I was bored by most of the story.

Also, while I recognize and support Gray's attempts to dismantle common fairy tale tropes (beauty being synonymous with virtue; love at first sight), I don't think she chose the most effective ways to do that.

At one point, the ugly princess's fairy godmother says to her regarding beauty, "I don't see what's so great about it. Don't you want to compose passionate operas or be a famous healer or peacemaker--something that would help the world a little?" as though there were only two options for women: 1) being attractive but stupid/self-centered/boring, or 2) being unattractive but smart/kind/interesting. And, in fact, the princess and her (elderly) godmother are the only truly positive female characters in the book. (To be fair, there are only two positive male characters, as well, but in their case their "virtue" is based in their intelligence rather than their looks or lack thereof.)

And while I think it's nice that writers are trying to present alternatives to love at first sight, I don't think that "if a man and a woman are friends, then they should get married" is necessarily the best substitute.

[Mohammad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very funny and amusing book to read when you just want to kick back and relax. It is an original fairy tale similar to Cinderella. When a handsome prince comes along and wants to marry the other sister and not the ugly Princess Rose, she then wishes to be beautiful. Off course the prince isn’t very nice, once she gets to know him. Will she be marrying him anyway? She needs the help of the court Fool, who is actually a wise man in disguise. (The king banned all wise men from his kingdom because they were laughing at him.)

[AmyReadsAll]

What a cute story! Read this for a 4th grade reading group (I was the adult leader) and had a lot of fun talking about the book with the kids.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5. 2019 must be the year of reading books I never got around to reading when I was younger, because this is yet another title I failed to read when I was a kid. It was on the shelf in my fifth grade classroom but it didn't interest me enough to read at the time. Much like Are You There God? It's Me Margaret, I'm pretty sure this would have been much more amusing and enjoyable if I were still ten years old instead of almost 26.

That's not to say this is a bad book. I'm always a fan of stories that take classic fairy tale tropes and cliches and does something different with them. I especially related to Rose wanting to be beautiful and struggling with her decision on whether or not to give up her magical hair. The friendship and eventual romance between Jasper and Rose was also very sweet, although I would have liked to see a little more of it.

Overall this was a fun read. If you're a fan of fairy tales that don't quite play by the rules, you'll want to check this out. It's quick and it's got some pretty humorous moments.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Kingdom of Couscous is obsessed with beauty, as were all kingdoms in the land of once-upon-a-time. By tradition, all princess were beautiful, but it was the 3rd daughter that was always most magnificent. Until, that is, Rose is born. Rose is not beautiful. She is caring, thoughtful, and intelligent, but she is not beautiful at all. This never bothered her, until Prince Parsley comes to visit. Rose’s friend, Jasper, the court fool who really has a Ph.D. in wisdom, is saddened by Rose’s sudden interest in her looks, but he tries to be supportive. This is a very funny book, and has great lessons in it. A wonderful twist on fairy tales.

[Kambri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good book, (from what I've read in it), it is about an ugly princess who has 2 sisters, Asphalt and Concrete. The ugly princess, Rose, wishes in a mirror to be beautiful. The Fairy God Mother comes and makes her beautiful again. That is as far as I have gotten.

[Chrisanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice twist but I liked others better.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming story with some very deep insights that should be read and meditated upon by adults as well as children.

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A morality play without moralizing, with humor and deft storytelling.

[cephalophore · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this fairytale, each daughter is supposed to be more beautiful than the last, but the king’s third daughter turns out ugly- oh no the horror. Now this king is quite unintelligent and feels very self conscious about that, so he has banned learning and education. A former wiseman, no with nothing to do, becomes the king’s fool to try and convince him to bring learning back. The king’s ugly daughter catches him reading and convinces him to let her have some of his books.

One day a prince comes to the kingdom and the daughter decides that she’s in love with him. She uses all of her wishes to make herself the most beautiful girl in the land, but when she catches the prince’s eye, she has to decide if being beautiful is worth giving up who she actually is. But, in order to return herself to normal, she would have to go on a quest and mitigate the rage of the other fairy god parents.

This book is undoubtably for younger readers, but I still read it from time to time because it leaves me with such nostalgic and happy vibes. And it has a wonderful message about being oneself (and the hidden bits about dumb governments being dumb, not that we would know anything about that.)

I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good starter chapter book for their kids, who likes spins on fairytales, and the magic of fairy godmother’s.

[Karen Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clever and humorous book with likeable characters, just the right amount of comedy and a wise message about not forsaking wisdom for the sake of looks. My aunt bought this for me as a kid and the slim paperback followed me around to trips to the dentist, car rides, vacations and other short journeys. I like how I can read it in one setting and it's one of my favorite comfort reads in childhood.

[Vianey Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book from a friend when I was 12 years old.
A scholastic version.

For many years I only had a limited amount of books to read and this one was amongst them, so I can say I have read it some 20 times at least.

It's a funny story and for a preteen like I was back then, it really was great.

I have recently passed this book on to a friend as a gift for her daughter, so I thought I'd review it for all the good times it gave me.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, but boring. Too long, too predictable. The theme has been done better elsewhere. The characters are superficial icons. And why don't the king and queen get Rose's teeth fixed, even if only for her health?

[Kin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listen it was a favorite book when I was a kid and I found it cleaning out my parents' basement so I decided to reread it and honestly? It actually made me smile a couple times and still felt charming and fun. I'd give this to a little cousin.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Couscous, beauty & ignorance is everything; Rose is ugly, Jasper is wise, so they try change themselves.

[Ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Definitely cute and quirky but a tad predictable.

[Sayeeda · Rating 2 out of 5]

took me days to read 176 pages boring at places

[houseoflavender · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book.

Even though this a children's book, the characters have more depths than many novels out there.

I just wish it was longer.

[Carolyn Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite children's picture books. Appearances deceive, and societal ideals are subjective.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute beginners novel, a short, funny fairytale that is entertaining and would be a great family book.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Weird and strange. I don't know what else to say.

[Chandrasekhar Palanimurugan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for beginners.

[Ky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super charming. I could read this over and over again on a rainy day.

[Aleah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty cute

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute story.

[Adrienne Organa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming and delightful

[Gena Lott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute if unorthodox fairy tale that will give the reader a chuckle. Great for 3rd and 4th graders.

[Emily Masters · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored this book as a child, and enjoyed revisiting it. I feel like it aged pretty well for a book based entirely around beauty standards lol