Review of Once Upon a Curse by E.D. Baker
Modern Fairy Tale Story Mixes Time Travel With Magic Spells
Nov 24, 2008
Centuries ago, Princess Hazel made the mistake of not recognizing a powerful fairy at her birthday celebration. Enraged, the fairy placed a curse on Hazel’s entire family line, decreeing that if Hazel or any of her female descendants touches a flower after her sixteenth birthday, all of her beauty, youth, and kindness will be taken away.
Now, many generations later, Hazel’s descendant Princess Emeralda must find a way to break the curse before her own sixteenth birthday. Retaining her kindness is vital not only for Emeralda but also for her kingdom since Emeralda is the Green Witch, the powerful and benevolent guardian of her land. Should the curse take her, the kingdom would be left without a protector and fall into ruin.
A Funny Fractured Fairy Tale
With the help of her fairy tale prince Eadric; her loyal bat Li’l; and her grandfather’s ghost, Emeralda devises a spell to travel back in time and prevent the curse from ever being cast. But navigating the past is tricky. An ancient dragon threatens Emeralda’s kingdom. Fairies abound, making it difficult for Emeralda to determine which one will cast the curse. Princess Hazel herself is a haughty girl who refuses Emeralda’s help. Can Emeralda stop the curse before it destroys her past and her future?
Tales of the Frog Princess
Once Upon a Curse is the third fairy tale story in E.D. Baker’s popular Tales of the Frog Princess series, which includes seven books, including The Frog Princess and Dragon’s Breath. Although Once Upon a Curse can be easily understood without reading the earlier fairy tales, since Baker established the personalities and relationships of the characters in the first two fairy tale stories, this third installment tends to be more plot-driven than character-driven.
That’s not to say Once Upon a Curse doesn’t have some great character interactions. There are wonderful pages of witty banter between Emeralda and the ghosts, witches, and dragons she can converse with. A particularly engaging subplot has Emeralda’s bat finding true love with a vampire. Emeralda herself is a willful girl whose desire to beat the curse and retain her good character will resonate with many readers.
Frog Princess Websites
Fans of the book should visit E.D. Baker’s website, which offers not only sample chapters from all her fairy tale stories, but also a deleted “outtake” chapter; character-themed recipes and games; and the author’s blog. A sister website, Tales of E.D. Baker, contains a message board, writing tips, and a link to the Disney trailer The Princess and the Frog which is based on Baker’s The Frog Princess.
Baker, E.D. Once Upon a Curse. NY: Bloomsbury Publishing Children’s Books, 2004. ISBN: 1-58234-892-8.
Do you like reading fairy tales with humorous twists? Then check out reviews of The Legend of Holly Claus, Ozma of Oz, and Lemony Snicket's The Lump of Coal.
