Saturday, May 5, 2012

Blog Tour/ Book Review: The Hero's Guide To Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

I'm thrilled to be apart of The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom blog tour today. 





By: Christopher Healy
Published by: Walden Pond Press
Released on: May 1st, 2012
Source: ARC from publisher to review
Ages: 8 & up
5 Stars: I Loved It!
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Enter a world where everything, even our classic fairy tales, is not at all what it seems.

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You've never head of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively, and yet, thanks to those lousy bards who wrote the tales, you likely know them only as "Prince Charming." But all of this is about to change...

Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their castles, Liam, Frederic, Duncan, and Guztav stumble upon an evil plot that could endanger each of their kingdoms. Now it's up to them to triumph over their various shortcomings, take on trolls, bandits, dragons, witches, and other associated terrors to becom the heroes no one ever thought they could be.

This title is the first in a series about the adventures of Liam, Frederic, Duncan, and Gustav. The second title is due out in 2013 -quoted from Goodreads

I absolutely love a fresh spin on the beloved fairy tales I grew up with and Christopher Healy does just that with his debut, The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom. This fun mix up of fairy tale Princes and Princess is one that kids and parents a like with enjoy. There's adventure, plenty of mishaps and of course plenty of laughs as readers journey along side Prince Liam, Prince Frederic, Prince Duncan and Prince Gustav. 

This story starts off with the not so well known fairy tale spin of Prince Charming and Cinderella. This story is about Prince Fredric and Cinderella. Yes Fredric is charming, but he's not the Prince you're picturing from the Disney Classic, okay except for maybe his looks. And Cinderella, well that's just say Christopher's Cinderella is full of spunk and plenty of adventure. It's that sense of adventure that has Cinderella fleeing the castle and Prince Fredric chasing after her. During Fredric's pursuit of Cinderella he meets other the Princes, whom I might say are just as enduring and lovable as Prince Fredric.

One of the many things I loved about this book is the humor. Christopher Healy's humor is one young readers will get and adult readers will love. I thoroughly enjoy a middle grade book that both my son and I can sit and read together, as well as get something out of it. This fairy tale mesh offers more than just humor and adventure, there's an important lesson in friendship that each of the Prince's as well as the readers learn. 

Here's the thing I liked about each Prince, they all of these little quirks about them that they all learn to accept with each other as their story unfolds. They're not your average dashing Disney Prince, but these really fun, and some what relatable characters all end up learning to accept each other and themselves for who they are, which is a huge lesson for young readers to understand. In doing this each Prince learns to trust the others, which allows them to work together over the course of their adventures. There's a lot at stake for these Princes as they uncover the evil plot that could ultimately destroy each of their Kingdoms. Their team work is vital for them. I have to say, it's a lot of fun reading about how these charming Princes all learn to work together. 

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom is fun, highly entertaining, enchanting mesh up of the classic fairy tales. It's an engaging story that the entire family can enjoy. This is one of those outstanding MG books that I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND picking up and adding it to your bookshelves. You'll definitely see this book on my list of 2012 must have books at the end of this year.

Giveaway: Thank you to Walden Pond Press I have 1 copy of The Hero's Guide to Saving your Kingdom to giveaway! To enter, please leave me a comment telling which fairy tale Prince is your favorite, along with your email address. (US residents only).




Chris Healy Bio: Christopher Healy spent years reviewing children’s books and media online and in print before setting off to write The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, his first children’s book. He lives with his wife and their two children in New Jersey. You can find him online at www.christopherhealy.com.

21 comments:

  1. My favorite fairy tale prince is Beast from Beauty and the Beast, I blame Disney:)

    christinabahr2008 at yahoo dot com

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  2. I completely agree with you on this one, it was wonderful! I love so much when middle grade books strike that note of humor that both adults and kids can enjoy. This would be a fantastic one to read aloud together.

    My favorite fairy tale prince is the Beast. I like my men gruff and grumpy with good hearts deep down. =)

    bunburyinthestacks@gmail.com

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  3. My favorite fairytale prince is also the beast. There's a lot to be said about a man/beast that can change, even if it's for his own betterment. I think that's what attracts me to the beast.

    molly(dot)frenzel(at)gmail(dot)com

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  4. I'd have to say the Beast is my favorite prince or Shrek, because that's really a retelling. I'd love to win a coy.

    rmarma2 at yahoo dot com

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  5. I have to say that one of my favorite Princes is the frog prince - poor guy always has to wait around for the perfect one to break his spell - I feel bad for him, lol!
    Thanks for the giveaway :)

    thebumblegirl at rocketmail dot com

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  6. I agree with Natalie, the Beast is my favorite as well. I love that both Beauty and the Beast need each other to become better people. Not that Beauty is not a good person, but she does learn patience and forgiveness during their time together

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  7. I forgot to add my email cubicleblindness at gmail

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  8. Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty. There is a lot to be said for a man who can dance as well as he fights.

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  9. I have never considered who my favorite prince is, because they all seem kind of similar and one dimentional...(other than the Beast)--this might change after reading this book! But if forced to choose now, I would also pick Prince Phillip because he seems pretty care-free, but can still defend his castle.

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  10. Prince Blomquist Von Saunabaden aka The Frog Prince from the retelling of The Frog Prince in Once Upon a Fairy Tale.

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  11. I'll have to say that my favorite prince is Prince Charming. He's fairly vanilla, but he's the generic prince in quite a few fairy tales. I cannot think of a fairy tale in particular, because most of the original princes are quite shocking - medieval behavior and all.

    pherlaithiel (at) gmail (dot) com

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  12. Thank you for all your comments!

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  13. What a fantastic idea ofr a book! The prince's really are quite one-dimensional, but I guess I'd have to go with Cinderella's prince, if only because he was tenacious in hunting down the glass slipper wearer.

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  14. I'm a huge fan of Prince Eric from the Little Mermaid and Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty. Eric got a lot of screen time, which was fantastic, and Phillip can dance and sing and slay dragons!

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  15. I don't know if he is an official fairy tale prince, but I have to say that I love John Smith. I used to watch Pocahontas all the time when I was younger, and I think it is really wonderful how John goes against everything to try and be with her.

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  16. I love fairy tales, so it's hard to pick a favorite prince! I'm going to go with Prince Phillip from Disney's Sleeping Beauty -- he's awesome!
    bgh(at)byu(dot)net

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  17. I'm going to go with Prince Charming, isn't it what little girls want to find? Well at least I did.
    Brtjaden. (At) hotmail (Dot) com

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I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~ Anna Quindlen

Good children's literature appeals not only to
the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child.
~ Anonymous ~