For Biddle's Sake

In reading and blogging, I love making connections, especially to literary inspirations. Stories and books can and should stand alone for those who don't know the literary origins, but recognizing a retelling or an homage makes the experience all the more rich. In the case of For Biddle's Sake by Gail Carson Levine, I only recognized half of the inspiration: Rapunzel. It wasn't until reading the post on Lyndi's Favorite Books that I learned of the other story behind the book, "Puddocky", and old German tale retold in Andrew Lang's Green Fairy Book. In For Biddle's Sake, Parsley as an infant will only eat the herb she's named for. Her father is caught stealing from the evil fairy's garden. So, like Rapunzel, Parsley is taken as payment. Unlike Rapunzel, she's put into the service of Bombina, instead of being locked away in a tower. Parsley enjoys her time with Bombina, and she with Parsley. But she can't control her temper. She lets off steam by turning things into toads. And one day Parsley gets in the way. That's where the Puddocky story takes over. What makes Levine's books so great is that her female protagonists can think. Parsley doesn't just pine away in the pond waiting to be rescued. She works with the youngest prince to help him solve the problem of his twin brothers while working on her own solution at the same time. For Biddle's Sake was the first chapter book that Harriet sat through. We read a chapter or two every couple of days. It kept her attention all the way through.

Do you like retelling of fairy-tales? Gail Carson Levine is the author for you. She is witty, and pokes fun at fairy-tales all the while making you love the story even more. “Meanwhile, Parsley grew into a plump, happy child with a lovely smile, in spite of teeth that were stained pale green [from only eating Parsley].” – For Biddle’s Sake by Gail Carson Levine Just by the first chapter, you can grasp the humor Levine puts in her words. Her use of run-on sentences leaves you out of breath and laughing from the repetitiveness. Her objective to point out the obvious will keep you entertained. For Biddle’s Sake, a fairy-tale based on the German fairy-tale Puddocky by Brothers Grimm, is about a little girl who goes to live with a fairy that has pale-green teeth. The fairy she lives with has a very short temper, and ends up turning Parsley into a toad [the fairy’s favorite thing to turn people into]. Tansy is the king’s son. He has two older brothers [twins] that always blame him for destroying precious kingdom items. They never agree and never listen to poor Tansy. The king decided to hold a contest for the two older sons to decide who gets the crown. Tansy is sympathetically thrown into the mix. He meets a nice toad that helps him with the contest. Will Parsley always be a toad? Will she master her magic? Will the fairy ever see Parsley smile again? Will Tansy ever get his brother’s to listen? Will he get the crown? Levine has a splash of humor you will not find anyone else. Using plays on words and awkward humor, this is perfect for a story for a young girl or for a grown woman who can’t get enough of fairy-tales (cough me). I will always be a fan of Levine’s writing and I am so happy I picked them up first on my own quest to reread all my favorite books.