The Princess Test -- Peas, Mattresses, and Much More
- noorka
- Oct 31, 2015
- 2 min read
"Lorelei found the flake of tuna in the chocolate cake icing. Four princesses didn't. The meal was over. Lorelei and the crocodile princess and fity-seven other princesses remained in the game.
Lost and hungry, wet and sneezing, Lorelei stumbles upon an unknown castle. She is admitted, and finds herself in the middle of the Princess Test. King Humphrey and Queen Hermione have devised this to find a real princess for their son, Prince Nicholas. But the prince doesn't care about real princesses or imposters. He just wants to marry the maiden he loves. Can Lorelei pass the test? Can she win the prince's heart?
In this second of Levine's Princess Tales, she spoofs the notion that any test can prove a person's pedigree, and celebrates true love over blue blood." -synopsis from author's website
This is a review of The Princess Test by Gale Carson Levine, which is part of the Princess Tales short stories series. The story is a retelling of the Princess and the Pea.
Accuracy
Prince who is looking for a princess – check
Maiden who comes to the castle in a storm – check
Test of twenty mattresses and one pea – check
Princess so delicate she can feel it – check
Princes marries the princess – check
Originality
This is one of the many kinds of retellings that doesn’t uproot a story, but expands upon it. These types of stories never do well in the originality category because there is not much new or exciting about the story. This is pretty true for the Princess Test. Levine only adds more meat to a rather lean story. Admittedly this story would be very difficult to place into a more modern setting since being so delicate is no longer seen as a mark of pedigree, but a mark of spoiled-ness.
Creativity
This story made the whole 20 mattresses and a pea thing seem less arbitrary. Having a larger test surrounding the pea makes a lot more sense than just brining a girl in from the rain and having her sleep on 20 mattresses.
Another aspect that was very interesting was adding a little backstory for the girl’s extraordinary sensitivity. Lorelei was just born a very sensitive child. While this isn’t much of an explanation it is nice to see the idea that a princess isn’t just some one of royal blood.
Overall
This and the other stories in this series are all very short, sweet, and quirky retellings of classic stories. The characters are cute and simple. They remind me a lot of Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities where all the major characters had a repetitive trait to remind people of who they were since the stories was originally published in many short episodes rather than in a full length book. The people of Goodreads offer their compliments of such a delightful short story.
The Princess Test is a short and engaging story geared toward younger children. I would recommend this retelling as a 3/5 stars.
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