Ten of the Best Prince and Princess Stories. (Ten of the Best Myths, Legends & Folk Stories). David West. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2015. 24 pp., pbk., hc., pdf & html, $8.95 (pbk.), $18.36 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-1460-6 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-0787-5 (RLB.), ISBN 978-1-4271-7746-9 (pdf), ISBN 978-1-4271-7738-4 (html). Subject Heading: Fairy tales. Grades 3-6 / Ages 8-11. Review by Deborah Mervold. **** /4

excerpt:

One day, a hundred years later, a prince, hearing about the curse, decided to investigate. By this time, the curse had lifted and he got into the castle easily. When he found the princess, he fell in love with her on sight. It took one kiss to wake her, and do you know what happened? They married and lived happily ever after. (From “Little Briar Rose”.)

The excerpt is from the story “Little Briar Rose” which is a fairy story based on “Sleeping Beauty” by the Brothers Grimm. The 10 stories are from a variety of places, such as China, Europe, ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, Canada, Scandinavia, Germany, India and Italy. The stories are well-known tales sometimes based on other stories and sometimes original. Each story is complete on two pages with beautiful illustrations. The vocabulary, varied and interesting, is appropriate for the intended audience. Included at the end is a glossary and index.

     Ten of the Best Prince and Princess Stories would be an excellent selection for the study of fairy tales. For many of the stories, there are a few sentences with information that adds something pertinent about something in the story or about a story’s origin. The collection would be useful as an individual read suitable for the age level indicated or excellent for class study. It would be an excellent addition for personal, class, school and public libraries.

Highly Recommended.

Deborah Mervold is an educator from Shellbrook, SK, now doing faculty training and program development at Saskatchewan Polytechnic. She has extensive experience as an English teacher and teacher-librarian.

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