Once Upon a Marigold

Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris

As a fairy tale this book has everything: A young commoner of mysterious origin, raised by a conscientious troll and two faithful dogs. A young princess with a curse. A queen with dubious plans to marry off said princess. A doddering king. And a young love made stronger by p-mail (pigeon mail). This may sound like your typical fairy tale, but that’s where the “typical” part of this fairy tale ends. What results from Jean Ferris’ imagination is a very comical twist on the traditional fairy tale. One in which you may guess early on what the end result is going to be for our two main characters but will read on in delight just to find out for sure. Along the way you’ll get some brief lessons in Greek mythology and learn some truly awful jokes.

At 272 pages this book is actually a very quick read. I typically don’t finish books in one day but I was so thoroughly engrossed in this entertaining tale that I cuddled up in bed with my dog and was through most of the book in just a few hours. The recommended age on the back of this book is 10 and up and that is probably fairly accurate, although this would be a marvelous story to read aloud to even younger children. While not overly complex, this is a sophisticated children’s book and one that any fairy-tale loving adult would enjoy. I’m looking forward to checking out more of Ferris’ novels. I highly recommend this book.

25 thoughts on “Once Upon a Marigold”

I too liked the book. It was very entertaining, and the characters showed spunk and resourcefulness (is that a word?).

This is a great book with a modern twist
I think the characters represent empathy and abused power.

i did not read this book but i had to do a book repor over it.

from the cliff notes i read, i liked it ALOT !

They have cliffs notes for this? Interesting. I would suggest reading the whole thing, its a rather short book anyway and is wonderful!!!

I Love this book I’ve read it 3 times and it never gets OLD I ABLOUSTELY LOVE IT

they have notes for this? WHERE! i need to know!!!

Why? This book would take all of 4-5 hours to read if even that.

this book was the coolest and exciting book EVER!!! and the best part is it actually made me ENjoy reading even though i was doing a project on this book
I WOULD RECOMMENED THIS BOOK TO EVERYONE!!
♥

Glad you enjoyed it, it was a fun read. Its getting about time to re-read it!

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this book was awsome! i was doing a book cover on it.i totally recomennded!

So glad you enjoyed it, love your screen name!

thank you! i hope you liked the book too.my real name is sandra.age 13

i think the book was an adventure and a fun fairy tale, and i recommend this book to
all

i loved this book, but cannot for the life of me remember the carectors. help?

Honestly it has been long enough since I’ve read it that I cannot remember the characters’ names either. I do know that I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading it again someday.

i thought i was an ok book that needed a lot more romance in it or more supense but all in all it was pretty descriptive

this is the best book ive ever read. I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This book is the best one I’ve ever read:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i absoulutely love this book… i’ve read it 9 times! i love fairy tales, especially one’s with the twist as the review puts it =]]

My daughter has a test coming up. She tried to read the book, but did not find it interesting….She really needs the extra points for her class. I am searching for cliff notes to help her. Hate doing it, but no time to read the entire book.
Help!