This is one of my favorite books of all time. It was given as a gift to me when I was very young. It helped me get through some very awkward years of my youth. When my original copy was destroyed in a flood, I went to great lengths to replace. I recommend this novel for EVERY young girl. Forget Twilight, this is the book to give your daughter, niece, godchild, etc . . . ( )

The Ordinary Princess is very short. It's a lovely story about the youngest princess who is given the gift of being ordinary. When her parents start turning to desperate measures to get her married, Amy runs away to live in the forest with her companions - Mr Pemberthy (a squirrel) and Peter Aurelious (crow). This happy existence is interrupted by the deterioration of Amy's clothes. In order to purchase new ones, Amy gets a job as a kitchen maid at the castle in a neighbouring kingdom... and makes an unexpected friend.

It's sweet, humourous and forgivably predictable. (It is, afterall, a princess story written for children.) It has amusing illustrations, and is a clever twist on the traditional tales. I wish I had read it as a child, but I certainly don't regret having read now. ( )

A fun children's story about being special in spite of being ordinary. ( )

Fun, if not particularly deep. Are princes not required to look all alike? Not even heroic ones? I always enjoy fairy tales with twists. Hmmm, I'd like to see this particular twist twisted again - a beautiful, goldenhaired princess who is also intelligent, capable and independent. The princes don't really need much - there are handsome and plain ones, the difference is in their attitudes and that varies all over the place. Anyway, good story. ( )