A princess is ‘blessed’ to be ordinary. She doesn’t see it that way, though. She longs to have a special talent or stunning beauty like her many sisters, and her parents despair that she’ll never attract a suitor. She’s constantly angry and frustrated at not being able to meet anyone’s expectations, or rather- at having all their expectations of her so low, because of the ordinary label. In an attempt to make something dramatic happen, her mother stages a kidnapping- by a dragon- so that a dashing prince will rescue her. The dragon isn’t that fierce, and Princess Basil is bored sitting around in his castle waiting for a prince to show up. Poking around, she finds a sword in the dusty treasure room, snatches it and runs away, to make something happen on her own. She encounters a young man who’s supposed to be a knight but could never find the bravery to face a dragon. Together they seek out the fairy who had given Basil ordinariness in the first place, and she then sends them on a quest to find a magic ring- that will supposedly bring Princess Basil her true destiny. Instead, they find quite an adventure together. Because the young man comes along. He never really finds bravery but he is kind and supportive, and Basil finds out that she can face things quite well and with a lot of energy, when given the chance. I found the presence of two magical foxes (that were always so angry) a bit puzzling, and their role in the story didn’t seem necessary. The ending was a bit predictable, but quite satisfying. It just- doesn’t feel original. As quite a few other reviewers have already pointed out, the idea of an ordinary princess tracking down the fairy that ‘cursed’ her with it has already been written, same with a dragon kidnapping a princess when he didn’t intend to eat her . . . I guess you could view this as another twist on those ideas, but it just felt a bit- flat- to me. The artwork was okay, not great. I’m sure kids would like this one though.
Borrowed from the public library.
