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Title: For Biddle's Sake

Subtitle: The Princess Tales

Author: Gail Carson Levine

Narrator: Jorjeana Marie

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-10-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 10 votes

Genres: Kids, Ages 5-7

Publisher's Summary:

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.

Members Reviews:

Great story.

Wonderful re-write of a well-known fairy tale. Gail Carson Levine puts an interesting twist to the story that makes it a lot of fun.

For pity's sake, read this book!

Okay, I'll admit it. I am a Gail Carson Levine addict. I'll read anything she's written. But that's because she proves herself over and over and over. For Biddle's Sake, one of two new stories in the Princess Tales, lives up to the other tales in this series. Parsley loves, well, parsley. She won't eat anything else. The only place parsley growns near her parents' home is the garden of a fairy, Bombina, who is in fairy prison for turning too many people into toads (she's only allowed 5 a year). Alas and alack, the fairy is released and catches Parsley's father in mid-steal and ends up taking the parsley-loving mite home with her. As Parsley grows up, she becomes fascinated with the local royalty. The king has three sons, Randolph, Rudolph, and Tansy. Randolph and Rudolph are holy terrors who blame everything they do on their younger brother, Tansy, and get away with it. During the course of all of this, Parsley is accidentally turned into a toad by Bombina, the fairy, and wisked away to live by a stream. When the time comes to select the next heir, the king can't decide between the twins (R&R), and ends up sending all three sons on three quests.

Who will win the quests and become king? What is poor Parsley's fate? Buy the book and read for yourself.

Also recommended: All books in the Princess Tales Series, Robin McKinley, Diana Wynne Jones, R.K. Rowling

Enjoyable yarn full of subversive fairy tale elements

For Biddle's Sake is a charming yarn with multiple layers of subversive yet entertaining elements.

The story is based on a little known fairytale, Puddocky, with the classic Levine fairy tale elements: silly quests like finding a dog that will fit inside a walnut shell; humorous names like Princess Alyssatissaprincissa (sister of Countess Marianabanessacontessa); silliness such as distinguishing the twins by the size of their nostrils; and, the gratuitous normal-girl-meets-normal-prince through non-normal means.

"For Biddle's Sake" shares several of the same locales (e.g., Snettering-on-Snoakes) and character lineage (e.g, King Humphrey IV) as the Princess Test, which is somewhat comforting as these names can be tongue-twisters.