Have you heard the story about Prince Charming? Think so? Think again. In this amusing book, several fairy tales in which Prince Charming has a role are turned on their ears. It seems the bards are not all that accurate in their renditions of the stories. That can be a problem when the stories sung by bards are the only way news gets around.
There are actually four different Princes Charming. And each one is a bit different from the tales told about them. Prince Liam, who woke up "Sleeping Beauty" (Briar Rose), is a slandered hero. Prince Frederic, who danced with Cinderella, is a bit delicate. Prince Duncan, of Snow White fame, is, well, I mean isn't all there--really nice guy, though. And Prince Gustav, who was rescued by Rapunzel, needs to prove himself in the worst way possible--and is unfortunately often successful in finding that way.
When these Princes team up to save their Princesses and their kingdoms from the evil, publicity-hungry witch Zaubera there are some very funny results. Healy and Harris do a good job with the characters. They are flawed, but decent. They mean well. They try hard. They are, however, constantly tripping over their own personalities. A lot of the jokes are fairly obvious for me as an older reader, but they may be a bit less predictable to the younger readers at whom this book is aimed.
I had a hard time getting into the print version of this for some reason, but I got a chance to listen to the audio and wound up having a lot of fun. Bronson Pinchot does a wonderful job narrating the story. I had to check to see if he is the same Pichot who was Cousin Balki so long ago (yes, that dates me, I know). He is, but unlike his famous character, his voice is smooth and mellow. He doesn’t just read the story, he tells it.
I’d say give it a try. If you like it, there are several sequels.
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