Queen The Books

Our ten year old daughter received this book for Christmas and completed reading it in one day. She couldn't put it down! She loved the whimsical tales and is now reading Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg, also by Gail Carson Levine. This book was chosen by a group of 9 and 10 year olds in her book club! Young girls seem to just love Levine's style of writing!

Gail Carson Levine is well-known for taking familiar fairy tales and weaving them with her own magic. THE FAIRY'S REUTRN AND OTHER PRINCESS TALES is no exception. In this collection of the six popular Princess Tales, Levine has rewritten six familiar (and some not-so-familiar) stories until they are virtually unrecognizable.

In THE FAIRY'S MISTAKE, which is based on the fairy tale "Toads and Diamonds," two very different sisters are each granted a gift by the fairy Ethelinda. Ethelinda feels that her gifts are both well-deserved, so it comes as a great surprise when she discovers that neither gift brought the results she had planned.

THE PRINCESS TEST, which is based on "The Princess and the Pea," tells the story of Lorelei, a blacksmith's daughter, and the prince who falls in love with her. However, the prince's father is determined that his son should marry a princess, so he designs a series of tests to ensure the bride's pedigree. Nicholas still wants to marry Lorelei, but how can she ever pass the tests if she's not a real princess?

PRINCESS SONORA AND THE LONG SLEEP is based on "Sleeping Beauty." As a baby, Princess Sonora is granted many gifts, each fairy trying to outdo the others and bestow the best gift. As a result, Sonora is a beautiful, precocious young child, and she decides to wait until the opportune moment to prick her finger, which will put the castle to sleep for one-hundred years, as promised by the fairy Belladonna. Her plan, however, doesn't exactly go as planned.

In CINDERELLIS AND THE GLASS HILL, which is based on "The Princess on the Glass Hill," Cinderellis is a lonely boy inventor who is ignored and made fun of by his brothers. Princess Marigold is equally lonely, and wishes she had someone to talk to other than her cat. When Marigold's father decides that it's time for her to marry, he puts her on a glass hill that suitors will have to climb, and it will take Cinderellis' best invention yet to win her hand.

FOR BIDDLE'S SAKE is based on "Puddocky," and tells the story of Parsley, a young girl who loves eating parsley. Unfortunately, the only place that parsley grows is in the garden of the fairy Bombina, who is in jail for turning too many people into toads. When Bombina is released and Parsley is accidentally turned into a toad, she must find a way to make the most of the situation, and maybe even help someone else along the way.

In THE FAIRY'S RETURN, which is based on "The Golden Goose," the fairy Ethelinda is back, and she's nervous about giving any more gifts. But when a baker's son and a princess fall in love and the king forbids their marriage, she just has to do something! So she hopes that everything goes well and gives the baker's son a golden goose.

All six of these stories were absolutely wonderful, full of humor, magic, and love. If you're a fan of Ella Enchanted (Trophy Newbery) or The Two Princesses of Bamarre, you definitely shouldn't miss this book!

Reviewed by: Andie Z.

In this collection of short stories, Gail Carson Levine revisits the remarkable world in which ELLA ENCHANTED took place. Each fairy tale has a modern twist, in which Levine stands the old stories on their heads in fun, enchanting ways...

"THE FAIRY'S MISTAKE" is based on "Toads and Diamonds." The good fairy Ethelinda rewards a young girl for her generosity by making gems and stones drop from her mouth every time she speaks. Proud of a job well done, Ethelinda is shocked when her gift doesn't work out as she envisioned.

"THE PRINCESS TEST" is based on "The Princess and the Pea." Lorelei is a young maiden of a very delicate nature. To those who don't know better, she seems spoiled and lazy. When she captures the attention of a kind prince, things begin to happen.

"PRINCESS SONORA AND THE LONG SLEEP" is based on "Sleeping Beauty." As a month-old infant, Princess Sonora was "blessed" by fairies invited by her parents. She was made beautiful and remarkably intelligent. She was also curse to die after pricking her finger on a spindle. The curse is modified, but Sonora's other gifts may prove to be too much.

"CINDERELLIS AND THE GLASS HILL" is based on "The Princess on the Glass Hill." A young lad named Ellis (then renamed "Cinderellis" by his cruel brothers) loves to invent things. When the king sets up a challenge he can't resist, he'll need all his talents and generosity to pass the test.

"FOR BIDDLE'S SAKE" is based on "Puddocky." Parsley has a wonderful smile, despite teeth green from eating, well, parsley. Raised by a fairy who loves to turn people and things into toads, she has a unique view of things. So when she is accidentally turned into a toad, she uses her head to make the best of things, especially when a nice young prince needs help.

"THE FAIRY'S RETURN" is based on "The Golden Goose." Ethelinda is back, but she's afraid to make more mistakes. But she just has to do something to help the son of a baker when he earns a reward. After a bit of panic, she gives him a golden goose and prays nothing bad happens.

Each story is packed full of fairy-tale magic, laughter, and the requisite lessons (such as the importance of a kind heart). Fans of Levine's other work should pick this up today.

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
10/4/2006

4½-Balloons for WUAT Kids!; 5-Stars for Amazon

A new addition to the 'Lady Grace' mysteries is FEUD by Grace Cavendish, the sixth book which provides a fine mystery surrounding Lady Grace's investigation into the art world at the Queen's Court when a famous painter arrives to paint the Queen's portrait. Poisons are being used in some of the paints - and a family feud is suspected. But who's the poisoner?

This is the sixth book in the Lady Grace Mysteries series, about Lady Grace Cavendish, a thirteen-year-old Maid of Honor at the court of Queen Elizabeth I.

It is March of 1570, and a new portrait of Queen Elizabeth I is being painted at court. Lady Sarah, one of Lady Grace's fellow Maids of Honor, is being a stand-in for some of the portrait work. As Grace must accompany her to the workroom, she is able to observe the artists working and learns how deadly and poisonous certain paints can be. Shortly after, Carmina, another of the Maids of Honor, becomes mysteriously ill. Grace wonders if she is being poisoned - but who would poison Carmina, and why? Grace is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery.

This was another excellent book in the Lady Grace series. It told an enjoyable story and included many interesting details about life in Elizabethan times. I'd definitely recommend this book to readers who enjoyed the other books in the series.

Lady Grace is maid-of-honor to her majesty Queen Elizabeth (the first) and also her personal detective. The books are in diary form and chock-full of historical details and interesting facts, but without this information getting in way of the story. Not only that, but they are fun, rollicking adventures of Grace acting quite improperly and loving it. The Queen (not always the most proper woman) turns a blind eye as long as she saves the day and not many people find out.

One of my favorite parts of the series is the characterization of Queen Elizabeth. She is every bit regal, but also possesses a fantastic and wicked sense of humour.

Feud is the sixth book in this alphabetical series. The Queen is having her portrait painted, but the Queen has more important things to do than stand around all day while people paint her picture. Lady Sarah, who looks somewhat like the Queen, is standing for most of the portrait, and Grace has to sit and read to her. Grace would much rather watch the painters and learn their craft. While watching the artists, Grace learns quite a few things-- especially that certain paints are poisonous.

At the same time, an acting troupe has shown up and Lady Carmina is falling mysteriously ill. Grace suspects, but can't prove, she's being poisoned. Paints are being stolen from the work room-- if Grace can find the thief, will she find the poisoner? Who would want to harm Carmina?

The problem with this book is that a feud Carmina's family is involved in is the turning point of the plot, but it's hidden in the background. The pointers leading the the feud would have been very subtle foreshadowing and would make an almost-twist (and exciting) ending. But, alas, the book is named feud, so we know it's going to be important. The most interesting thing about this book is not the feud or the information presented about feuds. The most interesting thing is the information about the painting and artistic techniques of the Elizabethan age. This story contains more false leads than the previous mysteries and is one of the best.

I can't wait for Gold! see all my reviews at [...]

I love these books because they have unicorns,action and a little bit of romance (who dosn't love those things?)! I find the main part of the story too short, though. The only other remotely bad thing about these books is how to find them for cheap but still in good condition.

This was the first book I read in this series and I loved it at once. I loved unicorns when I was little and still do, and combined with magic, adventure, romance, and danger this book was a hit for me! I hope they decide to re-publish it so more people can enjoy it!

The Final Test is the third book in The Secret Of The Unicorn Queen series, written by four different authors. In this book Shelia has to try and outwit Mardock and save the unicorns in the process. Shelia battles hard to help her friends, the unicorn riders and their leader Illyria, while still trying to get home in one piece. A kindling romance has blossomed between Darian and Shelia in book two, Sun Blind, and is ever growing through out this book. As the story advances we see Dr. Reit trying extremly hard to get Shelia home to her own time, but if she does go home that'd mean leaving this world and everything in it behind!
The entire series The Secret Of The Unicorn Queen is a magnificant set of books. Each one is a story all it's own that captures the attention of childen and adults alike. It doesn't matter if you are male or female you'll love these books, because they action packed with a twist of romance.
The only problem is finding them! Luckly for me I visited a local library, were I used to live, on the day they were selling off unread inventory. I was amazed to find that the books, which I had read from this library 7 years previously, were still in great condition and for sale. I baught all six books for pretty little. Considering that these books sell for a lot in this great condition.
I urge you to buy these books if you can! You won't regret it!

A wonderful book that takes you back in time for 5 royal marriages. I had a splendid time reading and looking at the photos. I have been watching the "Royals" all my life. I remember the day Elizabeth and Phillip were married, and this little book just made those memories much more clearer than ever before! A "must" for "royal watchers"!!

A wonderful display of that special wedding. It was like the Queen was showing these momentos to me herself.

There's something irrepressible about a wedding of royalty. Even the most jaded of us is capable of maybe an 'awww' or two as we get to see a bit of a fairy tale come to life. There is pomp everywhere, from the fabulous gown and jewels that the bride is wearing, the wedding cakes and favours, to public displays of the wedding gifts.

This handsome little souvenir album is to commemorate an upcoming wedding anniversary -- that of England's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, who will have been married for sixty years, in November 2007. It is also a look at how Royal weddings have changed and evolved from fairly private ceremonies that were witnessed by close family members and courtiers, to now what is a spectacle watched by millions on the television and launching a flurry of books, magazines and various souvenirs from the pleasant to the grossly tacky.

The five weddings themselves occur in a period of time that spans just over a century, from 1840 to 1947, with the criteria that either the bride or groom would be a monarch of the United Kingdom.

The first wedding is that between Queen Victoria and her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, in 1840. Victoria had been Queen of Great Britain for two years when her wedding was celebrated, and public curiosity was intense as to who she would choose to be her consort. With the rise of new printing techniques, there were now ways that the public could observe, albeit from a distance -- there were special prints and panoramas that were printed to feed the curiosity about the event.

About twenty years later, the next royal wedding occured, this time between Victoria and Albert's eldest son, Bertie, the Prince of Wales and the future Edward VII, and his fiancee, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, 1863. Now there was the art of photography to add to the documents; some of these were hand-tinted to create a nearly painting like quality. The gifts were also more opulent, and this time, were described in a special magazine that supplied all of the details from what the guests were wearing to engravings that showed various aspects of the wedding service itself.

Thirty years later, another wedding occured, this time between Bertie's son, George, Duke of York, and his cousin, Princess Mary of Teck, in 1894. This time, celebrations and public notice were high, with various royalties from around Europe visiting to pay their respects. The gifts were put on public display this time, and admission was charged, with the proceeds going to a charity. The bride's trousseau was described in various ladies magazines in lavish detail and illustrations.

The fourth wedding was that of George VI and Queen Mary's second son, Albert, Duke of York, and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923. No one really expected them to become sovereigns of Great Britain, and so the celebrations were not quite as extravagant as might be expected. But one notable addition was that this was the first royal wedding to be filmed, and soon there would be opportunity for anyone to see it, all for the price of a ticket to the cinema, and sitting through a newsreel.

The fifth wedding was in 1947, with that of two of Queen Victoria's great-great-grandchildren -- Princess Elizabeth, and Prince Philip of Greece. After the dreary years of WWII, and the troubles of rebuilding, London was ready for a celebration. The outpouring from the public was immense, and it seems that all of England took the day off for a holiday. The marriage proved to be one of the most successful in the royal family, and appears to be still quite solid after nearly sixty years.

Each wedding goes into some detail about the clothing, providing pictures and closeups of the brides' gowns, showing some of the intricate sewing and decoration that went into the making. As was traditional, all of the clothing worn were made from British materials and designers. What I found especially beautiful were the samples of lace and embroidery, often with monograms and special designs incorporated into the designs. A very brief history of the couple is also included, talking a little about their childhoods, and what happened after the weddings. At the end of the book, there is also a listing of what music was performed at each wedding, with a few surprises tucked in.

What may surprise you is what you will not find in this book. There isn't any mention of Lady Diana, or of the notorious wedding of Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson.

For anyone interested in royalty, and how what started as a private celebration soon became an opportunity for public celebration, this is a lovely, well-made and designed book. The photographs and pictures are unusual, many of which I had not seen before, and gave a sense of intimacy.

The author, Jane Roberts, is the Royal Librarian, and has compiled a beautiful little volume on the lore of royal weddings. For anyone interested in the English monarchy, it would be a nice addition to their collection.

Five stars. Recommended.

I loved this book! It was humorous, intelligent, compassionate and well thought out, not to mention charming. It was a nice fairytale with some clever twists, and though some elements are a little predictable, there are plenty that are not. The characters are well-rounded and likeable, and the medieval setting is historically accurate enough to be more than believable. I hope this writer has written more books like this...if he has then I look forward to reading them!

If you like Gail Carson Levine's books, or Vivian Vande Velde's, then you'll probably quite enjoy this. Some people have compared this to Lloyd Alexander's work, but frankly I don't see the connection myself...his stuff is more like straight out fantasy, whereas this book has a real fairytale feel, with touches of both the mystical and the divine. Don't let the 'fairytale' tag put off the boys who might read it, though...I would heartily recommend this to both male and female readers.

A truly romantic story of a beautiful merchant's daughter who does not want to marry the king. A boy/man is hired to persuade her to marry the king, but things get in the way....lovely!

A cute little hilarious book, with characters I fell deeply in love with. Even though this book was simple and easy, the love tension and emotions were hard to control. Not only was the story great of (romance/fantasy) but the cover, graphics, and layout of the book was eye catching and a beauty to see. The book jacket was even nice enough to be consider framed and hung on a wall. You have to get your hands on a copy of this book, or else you'll never be able to get one again.

I highly recommend this book for doing Reader's Theatre in the Classroom. You won't regret it!

This story is very engaging and well-written. It will definitely keep children entertained. Plus the illustrations are worth pouring over. They are interesting and have many things going on in the backgrounds.

If you and your children loved Good Night, Good Knight, you'll love this book. Once again, the Good Knight helps those cute little dragons - this time with their colds. You'll love the remedy that finally works (Mom's chicken soup) and the cute ending. My kids are 5 and 8, and they both enjoyed it.

Professor Bauckham is responsible for this excellent book which undermines the current scholarly idea that the Gospels each were written for narrow, select audiences. The logic and background information team up to dispel the modern myth of isolated Gospel communities, each with its own theology. He compellingly demonstrates that the Gospels were written for all Christians (hence, the title) and for those interested in Christianity.

As the contributors to THE GOSPELS FOR ALL CHRISTIANS point out, there is a tendency to treat the Gospels as something like Paul's epistles. Just as Paul wrote to specific churches addressing specific problems, the evangelists are widely seen as writing for specific "churches" or "communities." So interpreting a Gospel becomes like interpreting a Pauline epistle - an endless quest for determining what that writer is responding to, turning the Gospels into allegories of church life and mirrors of communities. Such interpretations have a tendency to spin out of control, as in the case of Raymond Brown's oft-cited and occasionally ridiculed COMMUNITY OF THE BELOVED DISCIPLE where he argues that the John's Gospel went through a multiple-stage editing process, each stage corresponding to a different phase in the life of the community.

One problem is there is a general lack of proof for any such theories. And why couldn't an evangelist write his gospel over several years, traveling from city to city, and interacting with various problems and eventually publishing a gospel for the larger Christian community?

Richard Bauckham's introductory essay (which inspired the collection) sets the tone for the book. He argues persuasively that the idea that the gospels were written for general circulation and not specific communities. Based on what we know about the early Christians, they were interested in presenting the gospel message to the entire world. Bauckham's conclusion is a little sweeping and ignores some of the obvious signs that the gospel writers appear to have had a certain audience in mind. The later essays are a bit more restrained, arguing that the evangelists might have had a "target audience" in addition to the broader church. For example, Matthew might well have been written to Jewish Christians with a high regard for the law.

The essays are uniformly solid. One of the best is Richard Burridge's article on the genre of the Gospels. As he has argued in more detail in other works, their genre is similar to Greek and Roman biographies. Such works were generally addressed to the public and not just a specific school or community. Richard Thompson shows convincingly that travel and communication in the Roman world was quite developed and an author would likely assume that his works would have wide circulation.

This collection of essays is a generally outstanding contribution to New Testament studies. I recommend it highly.

This rather modest book, just 220 pages encompassing seven individual chapters by half a dozen British scholars, deftly challenges one of the central presuppositions underlying a vast mountain of New Testament scholarship for much of the past quarter century. Led by Richard Bauckham who teaches at St. Andrews in Scotland, these scholars quite literally pull the rug out from under prevailing work on the Gospels which almost universally assume that each individual Gospel was written for and intended only for an almost hermetically sealed "community" and that close reading of the texts gives us enough information to draw a fairly detailed picture of that same community. This assumption, Bauckham argues, despite the fact that it has become foundational to work in the field has really never been proven or even extensively argued as a theory with independent proof and testing. Like so many other "foundational" assumptions of recent New Testament scholarship, this structure upon which so many elaborate edifices have been attached rests not on the solid rock of historical or comparative literary evidence, but on sand.
Once Bauckham has cut through the knots of assumptions and the clumsy misuse of "social scientific" argument, an enormous stack of scholarship--commentaries, journal articles, Ph.D. theses, and monographs--suddenly seems to be standing on the shakiest of theoretical grounds.
For that reason, most New Testament scholars will either ignore, sniff, sneer, or simply brush aside this challenge. In fairness, no one who is thoroughly published on Gospel issues wants to have years or decades of their life's work challenged on foundational grounds.
The inimitable Loveday Alexander, adds an incisive chapter on book production and distribution in the Roman world, drawing on her extraordinary command of classic sources, and demonstrates that one did not tend to write a book in the Roman world unless that work was intended for what in those times counted as wide circulation. If one wanted only to communicate to a small, geographically fixed community one tended to use oral communication which was much more powerful and much more effective given the generally lower levels of literacy.

Richard Burridge of King's College London applies his well-developed thesis about gospel genre (see his erudite and comprehensive WHAT ARE THE GOSPELS?) to the question of who wrote the Gospels and why. Ever since Bultmann--the source of an almost endless series of utterly unfounded theories about the New Testament--the Gospels have be argued to be the products not so much of brilliant individuals but of "communities". (Having been a magazine and book editor for 25 years, I can hardly contain my astonishment when scholars point to a work that has stood for twenty centuries and argue that it was authored by some kind of committee.)Burridge addresses a series of these key questions in a powerful show of logic.

There is such a refreshing show of finely honed common sense and willingness to ask the most fundamental questions about matters that have become immutable articles of faith in the "scholarly guild" that the book is an exhilirating and heady read.

It is impossible to overrate the importance of this diamond-sharp gem of a book.

This is excellent reading for young readers. It brings the story of Esther to life.

My daughter enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed the adult version. It really put the book of Esther to life for you. I would recommend it to anyone.

This version of the adult Hadassah by Tommy Tenney is for girls 10-14, and is age appropriate for them, having the more graphic details of the adult version replaced with less unsettling wording. If you are looking for a book about the life of Queen Esther for the young girls in your life, this is one that would be an excellent choice. The pictures throughout the novel are quite nicely done and go along with the story. Well worth the 9.99 asking price.

I purchased this book to read to my three year old son to get ready for Halloween. We both love this book and it's quickly become one of his frequent requests at bedtime. He loves the Halloween Queen and her house. This is definitely a credit to Smythe whose illustrations are cute and whimsical and make what could be quite scary indeed to a small child something very engaging. The story is nice too with a surprise ending. Like everyone else that's reviewed it so far, the Queen definitely knows how to throw a party and I might be taking a couple of her ideas myself this year!

I bought this book to read to the guests at my daughter's halloween costume party. The illustrations are unique and the story is fun, not at all scary. I might even take a few ideas from the Halloween Queen's party.

My mom and me go crazy over Hallowen like in this book. We have a haloween party and have cool snacks. This time I ask mom to make popcorn eyeballs and the other stuff in this book and she says she will make it and we can read the book to the other kids in the dark It is going tobe soooooooo cool !!! And we liked the surprise ending.

I love this book and have read it more than 10 times. One reason I like this book is because the main character, Kate, has mixed interests. She's a good athlete, and a tomboy, but also likes fairy tales. She's a real girl and not a goody two-shoes. The plot has lots of twists but is fun to follow. Kate is funny and shows the medieval court subjects that girls can be more than princesses. Every time I read this book, I feel like I am in the story, watching Kate. This book is like eating my favorite dessert and I love it!

She's adorable; she's audacious; she's fairy-tale-loving, tomboy Kate in Pulitzer Prize winning Anna Quindlen's Happily Ever After, illus. by James Stevenson.

When Kate's wish to be a princess comes true, she straightens up a kingdom by popping the black knight with a chamber pot and teaching the Serving Maids how to play baseball.

Undaunted by a dragon, she reminds us that living happily ever after is being who we are.

I loved Happily Ever After. I think that Kate spoke very differently from the people in the story and she taught them a lot.