The Fairy's Return

The Princess Tales #6

by Gail Carson Levine, Mark Elliott (Illustrations)

Boy meets princess, and it's love at first sight. Both laugh of the same jokes. Both are named after birds. His name is Robin, hers is Lark. Could there ever have been a more perfect match? But alas! King Harrumphrey won't let Lark marry a baker's son. And Robin is betrothed to someone else. Now toss in Robin's nonsense-talking brothers, Nat and Matt, their versifying father, and Ethelinda, the fairy who wrought havoc in The Fairy's Mistake, and you've got a "nutcrazical" situation! A hilarious spoof on 'The Golden Goose" by the Brothers Grimm, The Fairy's Return is the sixth Princess Tale from beloved Newbery Honor author and master fairy tale reteller Gail Carson Levine.

Genres: Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Childrens, Middle Grade, Retellings, Fiction, Young Adult

112 pages, Library Binding

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

Just letting you all know: I'm only going to review books I love. There's enough negative criticism without me piling on. A book is too hard to write.

Gail Carson Levine grew up in New York City and began writing seriously in 1987. Her first book for children, Ella Enchanted, was a 1998 Newbery Honor Book. Levine's other books include Fairest; Dave at Night, an ALA Notable Book and Best Book for Young Adults; The Wish; The Two Princesses of Bamarre; and the six Princess Tales books. She is also the author of the nonfiction book Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly and the picture book Betsy Who Cried Wolf, illustrated by Scott Nash. Gail, her husband, David, and their Airedale, Baxter, live in a 1790 farmhouse in the Hudson River Valley of New York State.

Reviews

[Dann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was laugh-out-loud funny for me!

I don't really know what this is a retelling of... if it's even a retelling at all. But I loved the cleverness. Jake's nonsensical poetry was a highlight for me.

Here's my favorite:

A joker is a fool,
Who never went to a place of learning

Get it????

That one only took me a few seconds. But I must admit I'm still stuck on this one:

To the castle you could come
If you weren't so darn moronic

All the others were pretty obvious, so I don't know why I'm not getting it.

Here's my favorite line, if you're not already rushing to go read this:

While she dressed, she thought of the calamities that befell people every day. They stubbed their toes, lost their favorite hat feathers, [...], mispelled words, dropped their candy in the dirt.

Ah, the tragedy of mispelled words! Gail Carson Levine knows me on a spiritual level.

That said, the first volume (the first 3) was a little bit superior to this volume (the last 3), in my opinion.

[Wren (fablesandwren) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you like retelling of fairy-tales? Gail Carson Levine is the author for you. She is witty, and pokes fun at fairy-tales all the while making you love the story even more.

“King Harrumphrey tapped the scroll. “Not that ‘any harrumph.’”
The scribe wrote noble in tiny letters to the left of man.
The king was getting annoyed. “Not ‘any harrumphman.’ ‘Any harrumph.’”
– For Biddle’s Sake by Gail Carson Levine

Just by this part of the book, you can grasp the humor Levine puts in her words. Her use of run-on sentences leaves you out of breath and laughing from the repetitiveness. Her objective to point out the obvious will keep you entertained. In this instance, she has a king that replaces words with harrumph and expects people to know what he means.

The Fairy’s Return, a fairy-tale based on the German fairy-tale The Goose Girl by Brothers Grimm, is about a little princess and a baker’s son who fall in love. The baker’s son [Robin] never gets to finish a job with his two word-inventing brothers and rhymer father. The Princess [Lark] never gets to play a game fairly because everyone is afraid to let her fail at one.

King Harrumphrey will not let her marry Robin when he finally treats her like a real person. The baker will not let Robin marry Lark when she listens and laughs at all his jokes.

The king decided to hold a contest for all the princes to come make her laugh! So Princess Lark thinks of sad things to make herself cry for days because of her love for Robin.

Fairy Ethelinda [remember her from ‘The Fairy’s Mistake?!] gifts Robin with a golden goose after a series of events. That won’t accomplish his dream to marry the princess, but it is a start…

Will Fairy Ethelinda get over her fear of gifting/curing people? Will Robin have to marry the innkeeper’s third daughter Golly? Will Lark laugh at an unexpected prince and be forced to marry him? Will Robin ever finish a joke with his family? Will Lark ever be treated as a normal person? Will the end up happily ever after? Will the goose ever get a break?

Levine has a splash of humor you will not find anyone else. Using plays on words and awkward humor, this is perfect for a story for a young girl or for a grown woman who can’t get enough of fairy-tales (cough me). I will always be a fan of Levine’s writing and I am so happy I picked them up first on my own quest to reread all my favorite books.

[Erin Hendrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another favorite of the Princess Tales series. We enjoyed Lark and Robin as main characters, got the giggles over the "poetry" and word-smithing of Robin's ridiculous family, and the kids' loved translating the "harrumphing" of Lark's father. And of course, everyone enjoys a good Fairy Ethelinda appearance and her unorthodox way of getting things done. 😆 The high-speed finale with the sticky goose had all the kids laughing.

[Bene in love with books · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This seemed like an original tale rather than a fairytale retelling. It had less magic and more annoying adults. The romance was overly exaggerated and under-justified.

[Jacinta Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that Levine brings the series full circle with this one hundreds of years later.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a retelling of "The Golden Goose" in a humorous fashion. Frankly I don't remember how the whole Golden Goose thing went originally so I looked it up. It is NOT, NOT, NOT, "The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs." This goose is golden and sticky. Anyone who touches it gets stuck to it. Anyone who touches anyone stuck to it, also gets stuck. Eventually, this simpleton takes the sticky goose to the king whose daughter, the princess, cries all the time. She sees this parade of stuck people and laughs, so he gives the simpleton her hand in marriage.

That was the original story... mostly. The new story goes along pretty much the same way except that the simpleton (Robin) and the Princess (Lark) already know each other and want to get married, but the king won't let them because Robin is just a baker's son.

Overall the story was funny. The author makes Robin into a joke-teller and slides in corney jokes all along the way. It was a good read.

I might read this book again.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took awhile for me to recognize this as a version of “The Golden Goose.” I only know the tale because I was in a play based on it as a kid, it brought back fond memories of that experience.

As the last of the six tales in the series, this does a good job of bringing the collection full circle as the fairy in the first tale, The Fairy’s Mistake redeems herself. Again there is a romance based on friendship and an established relationship and qualities other than appearance,Eva theme in Levine’s work. This and the previous two tales use the same troupe of the hero being the youngest of three brothers, and the older two brothers treat him terribly. The equivalent of the wicked stepsisters of Cinderella, and there seem to be many lesser known tales involving three brothers. But with Levine’s creativity, I wish she had changed up the formula for at least one of the tales. I’m not sure the brothers in this tale were fully necessary as there are other, stronger antagonists. As a stand-alone, it wouldn’t make much difference, but as this story relies on another and is part of a series, it creates a bit too much repetition.

Still, it’s a cute story with a bunch of pun-based jokes some kids might get a kick out of.

[gltgw · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Listened to as an audiobook)
The second of 'The Princess Tales' series I've read and I just didn't enjoy this one as much as 'Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep'. Sometimes exaggerations are what makes something funny, but here the whole 'I've been in love with you for FOUR YEARS after meeting you ONCE and hearing three jokes' flipped over into unsatisfying for me. It also didn't have a satisfying resolution- I think I would've enjoyed it more if the solution had been less Deus ex machina (but maybe that was just a result of the fairytale it was based upon).
There were some fun jokes and maybe I'd have loved it as a child but it just wasn't quite enough.

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The annoying get their due, and good prevails through the travails. This series is a soothing counterpoint to reading Roxane Gay's books -- once you've been in the fire too long, a smooth cooling drink of 'plant-based milk product' is needed.

[Heidi]

I am not going to rate it because I'm honestly not sure. I liked parts of it but I found other parts hard to follow. Maybe it's because I was listening and all the grunts were audible. Anyway, finished the series anyway.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Retelling of the Golden Goose; Robin (baker's son) wins the heart of Lark (princess)

[Riley (runtobooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5! very fun to revisit so many years later!

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the funniest retelling ever! I especially love Cinderellis!

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was awesome. My only critique is that Lark and Robin got married at 13. I'm 13. That's just weird to me.

[Ashley Blazosky]

Really want to read it again.

[Emily]

adding to goodreads for posterity, but not able to review.

[Poptart19 (the name’s ren) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

Loved these books as a kid

[Isabella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cuuuuute story! I read this in grade school, so it's nostalgic for me :)
Nice, quick read :)

Would I recommend?
Sure!

[Susan]

Enjoyed this one a lot too because I'm a sucker for people falling in love because they make each other laugh or appreciate each other well. <3

[meg]

ok this was probably my fav even though I have zero memory of actually reading it as a child

[Jessie Briggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wholesome genius.

[Angelka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very creatively written which made it entertaining to read.
I love when stories we already know can be transformed and made slightly different but still interesting.

[Laura Talley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful fun story for all ages

[Siena · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Princess Tales are so cute I love them so 😭 I wish there were 10 bazillion and not just 6!

[anaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

my childhood

[Liz Banks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a series of fairy tales by Gail Levine who wrote Ella Enchanted. They were amusing and a welcome retreat from the dark series I had been reading.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cuteee

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5…Probably my 2nd fave in this collection to my old fave Cinderellis. I just am not a huge fan of the device used for this version of King Humphrey.

[Aleka Morgan, Lady of Gondor · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite of the princess tales. It is funny and extremely satisfying!