365 Days of Books

Once Upon a Marigold models many good ideas that I feel are lacking in most fairy tales. Marigold and Christian are friends, good friends, even though they think that there can never be marriage between them because Christian is a commoner and Marigold is royal. They are honest with each other, for the most part, and trust each other. Marigold is smart and described as plain (though not by Christian). Marigold's father has made some terrible mistakes but he sees the errors he has made and tries to fix them; he apologizes for his parental shortcoming. Marigold's mother is a nasty piece of womanhood and her anger and pettiness affect everyone around her; it is easy to see how one person's nastiness can sipple out and affect more and more people. Marigold knows that things are not just black or white; she sees that sometimes people who take responsibility cannot just do whatever they want.

This is a funny story full of mangled proverbs and anachronistic tidbits (like p-mail - by pigeons).

Lots of fun, I recommend this book to boys and girls from 10-15.