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44th out of 921 books
—
5,231 voters
The Princess Test (The Princess Tales)
by
Gail Carson Levine (Goodreads Author),
Mark Elliott
King Humphrey has decided its time for his son, Prince Nicholas, to marry. But he must make sure the bride is a real princess. So he devises a series of princess tests, designed to weed out the phonies and the fakes. Meanwhile, Nicholas has fallen in love with Lorelei, a mere blacksmith's daughter. She's no princess, but he wants to marry her all the samebut how will she...more
Hardcover, 96 pages
Published
March 21st 1999
by HarperCollins
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In the town of Snettering-on-Snoakes Lorelei is a young girl with allergies of all sorts, and catches every illness. Lorelei is constantly taken care of by her mother before she had died, and after she died Lorelei’s father wasn’t home, so he hired a woman named Trudy to take care of Lorelei and their home. While figuring out that Lorelei either breaks everything she touches, or hurts herself on it, Trudy becomes enormously frustrated and plans to get rid of Lorelei once and for all - by killin...more
(3.5 stars) This is a longer, darker, chapter-book version of the princess and the pea.
From page 1, ("She cried when her porridge was too hot or too cold or too salty or too bitter or too sweet. She cried when her bathwater was too hot or too cold or too wet or not wet enough.") I found myself identifying with Lorelei. She is impossibly particular, prone to allergy and illness, and rather clumsy. Lorelei realizes what a handful she can be and shows some regret, but hey, she is who she is.
At tim...more
From page 1, ("She cried when her porridge was too hot or too cold or too salty or too bitter or too sweet. She cried when her bathwater was too hot or too cold or too wet or not wet enough.") I found myself identifying with Lorelei. She is impossibly particular, prone to allergy and illness, and rather clumsy. Lorelei realizes what a handful she can be and shows some regret, but hey, she is who she is.
At tim...more
Lorelei is a blacksmith's daughter who has every allergy imaginable. However luck is on her side when Prince Nicholas rides through town, catches sight of Lorelei, and instantly falls in love. Lorelei and Nicholas meet again when the king and queen call for a country-wide search for a fiancee for Nicholas. They want to test every princess in the land to see who is the most suitable for their son. Lorelei isn't a princess, but she manages to enter the competition anyway, and her allergies actuall...more
Lorelei is quite accident prone and seems to be always getting sick. Her mother always cares for her, but when she passes away, Lorelei's father hires a woman named Trudy to look after her while he is gone. After awhile, Trudy wants to get rid of Lorelei because she just can't stand her. But how is she going to get rid of Lorelei?
And by chance, prince Nicholas comes across Lorelei and takes a great liking to her. So it works out for them when the prince must marry and Lorelei shows up to the cas...more
And by chance, prince Nicholas comes across Lorelei and takes a great liking to her. So it works out for them when the prince must marry and Lorelei shows up to the cas...more
In the interest of perfect honesty, I will confess that I have never read Hans Christian Anderson's The Princess and the Pea. In fact, prior to reading the wikipedia summary (which I did just before sitting down to write this review), all I knew of the story was that there was a princess who for some reason or other had a pea under her mattress.
Speaking from personal experience, I advise anyone who is planning to read The Princess Test to familiarize themselves with at least a summary of Anderso...more
Speaking from personal experience, I advise anyone who is planning to read The Princess Test to familiarize themselves with at least a summary of Anderso...more
Of all the fairy tale retelling books that I have read, this Princess and the Pea retelling was by far my favorite and has always held a soft spot in my heart. The main character Lorelei is delicate, to say the least. She's lovable and kindhearted, but rather blundering and laughable. She suffers from numerous ailments and is clumsy, but she's always interested in helping out. The romance is cute and fluffy, and the story is very entertaining. Anyone with a love for fairy tales will love this cu...more
Levine’s story is delightfully fun, and as close to a “real” fairytale as retellings are likely to get. All the stories in The Princess Tales story are short (able to be read in half an hour) and function on the same bases as the originals. There is love at first sight, the good characters are generally pretty if not stunningly gorgeous, and it is perfectly obvious how everything will end. In short, they are wonderful.
The Princess Test is a witty retelling of “The Princess and the Pea.” King Hum...more
The Princess Test is a witty retelling of “The Princess and the Pea.” King Hum...more
Jul 10, 2010
Angela
added it
This book, much like the Princess and the pea, was a very likable book to me. The main girl in the story, I could just not get the name right. The housekeeper Trudy, a very helpful woman, trying to hurt poor Lorilie, and it turns out, everytime she trys to do something, it never works the way she wants it too. Now, most of the test I would never understand. One of the princesses sounded strange. Especially the one that's carrige was drawn by aligaters. Ick! But it turned out to be the perfect bo...more
My daughter is currently princess crazy. Her favorite princess is Princess Pea from the PBS series Super Why! Princess Pea as you can probably guess is the daughter of the princess who passed the pea test. So when I was looking for longer books to read to her during bath time, The Princess Test by Gail Carson Levine was an obvious choice.
In Levine's version, set in her fantasy realm of Biddle, Lorelei is a commoner with very royal tastes. She likes the best foods, the purest soaps, the finest ma...more
In Levine's version, set in her fantasy realm of Biddle, Lorelei is a commoner with very royal tastes. She likes the best foods, the purest soaps, the finest ma...more
It's a tiny book--only 96 pages, with huge margins on each side. It takes less than an hour to read. But that's okay; it turns out the Princess and the Pea doesn't need a heavily padded retelling.
Because this princess is a delicate flower (20 mattresses & one pea, remember) and therefore incapable of doing much. Her body is in fact morbidly ill-suited for work or labor. Dish soap gives her a horrible rash, as does sleeping between non-silk sheets. Attempts to do anything productive--spin thr...more
Because this princess is a delicate flower (20 mattresses & one pea, remember) and therefore incapable of doing much. Her body is in fact morbidly ill-suited for work or labor. Dish soap gives her a horrible rash, as does sleeping between non-silk sheets. Attempts to do anything productive--spin thr...more
Really easy read. Only 90 pages. I read it in literally 20 minutes. I honestly only read it because I had finished all my other books and I had nothing else to read. It also brought back childhood memories because this was my first novel that I read in grade one! Once again this will only take 30 minutes MAX to read plus I had distractions so if you want to recommend a book to 7-9 year olds they'll probably like it considering they are girly girls like I used to be and don't wan't to admit still...more
I just reread this little book I bought when I was nine and loved; and now I'm loving it all over again. Sure, the language is simple, but not so much that it will bore you, it is for kids but adults may enjoy it if they have a young heart.
I love the personality that Levine gives her characters,specially her princesses. Although I'd probably be totally annoyed at Lorelei half the time if I had to live with her, she's so fickle. But not on purpose of course. Which would made me like her. And I h...more
I love the personality that Levine gives her characters,specially her princesses. Although I'd probably be totally annoyed at Lorelei half the time if I had to live with her, she's so fickle. But not on purpose of course. Which would made me like her. And I h...more
This book is a great read for readers to be swept away in. The Princess Test is one of my favorite Gail Carson Levine books by far. Getting a little help along the way, a young girl must pass a series of tests to prove she is a worthy princess and suitor for the young and handsome prince. It is a revamped fairytale that is reminiscent of many I had previously heard of, while staying its own story. I flew through the pages of this story and will definitely be including it in my future classroom.
Being an adult, this book wasn't THAT great. Entertaining enough. Short enough to help you get back into reading.
It was annoying the king had to keep using synonyms to describe things, which maybe is good for kids, but seriously I don't care to read a sentence where he says thing like "the princess or damsel". But just imagine that over and over every time it seemed like he spoke.
It was annoying the king had to keep using synonyms to describe things, which maybe is good for kids, but seriously I don't care to read a sentence where he says thing like "the princess or damsel". But just imagine that over and over every time it seemed like he spoke.
My daughter asked me to read this after she did. It was sweet. I vaguely remember the story of the princess and the pea, but nothing more than that. I loved how Prince Nicholas could only think of marrying Lorelie. That is always wonderful, but SO not real. Ha ha ha. If it were he would be a stalker dude. This is a completely clean elementary school girly book. Enjoy!
You could tell right away that it was truly based on The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Anderson. I don't really like Lorelei that much in this book, and it relates so much to The Fairy's Mistake, which is the first of the "Princess Tales."
Still, it was better than "boring" and much better than "bad," which makes it a really good 4 stars.
Still, it was better than "boring" and much better than "bad," which makes it a really good 4 stars.
This book is ok. it wasnt the book i was quite looking for but. this book is about a girl whos father died and her and her mother moved to a little village and she dosnt know how to do ANYTHING because she HAD a maid and through the book she had to learn how to do diffent jobs.Such as sweeping mopping ect.but i dont plan to read the rest of the series.i was very dissapointed.
I love reading with my grandchildren and finding fun books for them. This book was written by the author of Ella Enchanted, a Newbery Honor book. She has written several Princess Tales books which are a retelling of favorite fairy tales. The Princess Test is her version of the Princess and the Pea. I enjoyed it!
A good twist on a classic tale. It is heavy in the idea that everything happens for a reason.
The main character seems sweet, but is hyper-girly. Her girliness actually proves to be an asset though, so I guess that is kinda good.
Overall, a good, funny piece that is great for a little bit of light reading.
The main character seems sweet, but is hyper-girly. Her girliness actually proves to be an asset though, so I guess that is kinda good.
Overall, a good, funny piece that is great for a little bit of light reading.
I love this spin on the Princess and the Pea. The princess tests are so funny,the way she describes them and the characters in the book.The way the prince falls in love with Lorelei when he firsts sees her...its a good thing for little girls to dream about. I would recommend this to all ages
The book was alright... but it lacks something... I finished this for less than an hour. it wasn't that exciting and the story wasn't that long so you can't expect much from it... although this would be a good bedtime story for kids. But for young adults, they won't enjoy it like kids would.
I really enjoyed this but it's too intense for my daughter (at 6). The woman who's hired to help watch the girl ends up resenting her and thinking up ways to kill her. It's a cute retelling of The Princess & the Pea though! Maybe in another year or two she'll have thick enough skin for it :-)
This is a very short book, but it's nice if you need a little break from other things, and you can read it in one sitting ;). I thought it was a refreshing break from my other books.
The Princess Test
by Gail Carson Levine
Review by Ashley =)
The Princess Test
by Gail Carson Levine
Review by Ashley =)
This is a very short, very simple telling of The Princess and the Pea. I'm afraid Gail Levine didn't do anything new with the tale and it was written in that flat, two dimensional way Grims fairytales are told. I was hoping for something more from this author who wrote Ella Enchanted.
A story of a almost hopless girl who blums into a princesse. The prince loves the new not a real princesse. The maid or watch full eye hates the girl. She trys to kill her. Its is another virson of the story of the girl who sleeps on 30 beds and feels the pea under all of the beds
favorite book in this series!! ah the memories! i checked it out from the library many times, and one time i decided to type out all the text onto a wordperfect (aww) document. i stopped when i realized it would take me forever.
i love the font used too! (retrospective comment)
i love the font used too! (retrospective comment)
Jul 30, 2010
Korrin
added it
I saw this book at the library, and it reminded me of the middle school play I was in during 8th grade: Once Upon a Mattress. This was a really fast read; I had it done in less than an hour. It's the classic story of the Princess and the pea that, to me, never gets old.
Levine's style and spirit are fun to read, but I was disappointed in character integrity, usually held high in fairy tales. It's a spoof on the Princess and the pea, and I like the description on the goodreads website-- it makes all the inconsistencies make sense.
1 like · like · see review
A fun, quick read, although I was a little disappointed. This remake of the Princess and the Pea didn't have the originality of Levine's other fairytales. There were also moments where the text was really broken-up and not very continuous. I had to reread several pages to understand what had happened. A good book for tweens.
This book only took me an hour to read. It was light, fun, and quick. And typical of Gail Carson Levine, it was a fun take on an old story....in this case, The Princess and the Pea. This didn't disappoint, and I'll be quick to pick up another book by this author.
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| the princess test | 3 | 19 | Aug 24, 2011 06:08pm |
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 Yo...more
More about Gail Carson Levine...
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 Yo...more
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May 08, 2012 06:53pm