The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom (Hero's Guide, 1)

~Bards don't know squat about the Princes Charming~It's no secret that I'm in love with The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy. I've been declaring my love and affection on Twitter, on Youtube, for gosh sakes, and there's a reason for it, my friends. I don't normally DO middle grade books. I've always felt that there was this lack in them that I couldn't get passed. Sometimes things get a little too predictable, a little too easy, but you know what, I've realized this year that I'm full of CRAP. Baskets of crap. Because what the heck do I know? This is my second attempt at middle grade, and for the second time, I've been put in my place, and my silly preconceptions about the age group as a whole have been popped and have dissipated into NOTHING, not even blips in my memory. To the point where I'm going to make it my business to pick up more middle grade.I picked this up after I read this really fabulous review and character interview over at Small Review. I thought to myself, unheroic, endearing Princes Charming setting the record straight? I WANT IN. SO WANT IN. And I've been giving The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy these wide, creepy, happy smiles and not-so-subtle dreamy glances. Because, yes, this book is THAT good. Perfect book material, totally. It hits up my two favorite things--fantasy and retellings. It retells the fairy tales you think you know, the ones that I love, and shows you how WRONG they actually are. The Princes Charming totally set the record straight, and you'll remember their names by the end.You guys, this is laugh-out-loud narration, wholesome fun, charming, hilarious characterization, and so much more. The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy is about flaws turned to strengths, about a rare, unheroic bunch becoming the real thing, becoming the heroes the bards will remember this time.~Prince Charming is character girl heaven~GOSH, I love these characters. Adore them, treasure them, admire them, root for them. Each of these screw-up princes, with all their flaws, banter, and triumphs, own a mansion in my heart. I have such a soft spot for sweet-natured, curious, oddball Duncan, it's ridiculous. Frederic is a close second place, making me LAUGH OUT LOUD in wonder and humor over his prissy, prim, and proper dialogue and his amusing prudence, his entertaining OBSESSION with cleanliness. Reading as these two discover their so-called weaknesses and oddities as strengths, as they discover their heroic qualities themselves, as well as the bond of friendship among four unlikely companions, is the purest form of joy and entertainment. I was hooked.Then, Healy throws in quintessential storybook hero and prince with the dashing good looks and excellent strategist tendencies--Liam--and a prince with a fierce superiority complex and impulsive, reckless act-first-think-later personality--Gustav, and you couldn't have pried me from this book if you'd offered me your last carton of cookies and cream ice cream. The illustrations just ADD to the whole disarmingly awesome reading experience.Christopher Healy made me openly share my SNORTS of HORROR, causing shame to my relatives, I was laughing so hard, and I was too absorbed to be the least bit embarrassed. Please, I didn't have time for that. I was too busy reading about four of the BEST male main characters to enter middle grade/young adult fiction and their quests into No Man's Land and foreign kingdoms where they fight giants, dragons, witches, and BANDITS. Their adventures absolutely took precedence over EVERYTHING ELSE.~Prince Charming wants his princess back~From losing said princess to the promise of adventure with Rapunzel, to making another feel unwanted and underappreciated, to realizing how nasty YET ANOTHER one is, these Princes Charming certainly have their hands full.Poor Frederic, after kissing and dancing and proposing to the lovely Ella, has driven her away with his lack of understanding and sense of adventure (his idea of a daring escapade is an outdoor picnic with a new menu to try), and he must overcome his fears of the outside world to chase after her (never mind he leaves with the little knowledge as to how to ride a horse).Prince Gustav, shamed by his part in Rapunzel's story and irritated at everyone's mockery of his heroic potential, has, with his callousness and abrasiveness, sent Rapunzel packing to head in the opposite direction, off on her own in order to use her healing abilities for the good of others.And Prince Liam? The good, noble prince actually capable of rescuing the damsel in distress, and does, has found himself in quite the pickle. After rescuing Princess Briar Rose from the evil, jealous fairy who cast a sleep spell on her entire kingdom, has witnessed firsthand, and in due shock, her plain (and unexpected) meanness and selfishness and has, with relief, refused to marry her, much to the detriment of his impeccable reputation.All is not well for these princes, and they find themselves in the same hellhole. None of the bards have remembered their names, and so EVERYONE knows them all as only Prince Charming, and nothing more. Unwittingly stumbling across one another, Prince Frederic and Gustav are the first to unite, Gustav in hopes to finally gain a hero status in helping the helpless, clueless, frightened Frederic in saving the damsel. When that fails, and they seek the aid of the famous Charming whose reputation for defeating a witch FAIRY is widely known, the two seek him out and pick up Duncan as well for their trouble. Their distaste for each other quickly expands to trust, trust to respect and admiration, and eventually the four become protective of one another, basking in their kinship over the horrors of their reputations. They become so heartwarmingly close, and grow to be exactly the kind of people they always longed to be, while forming a brotherhood of sorts worthy of unabashed cheers and fist-pumps!~A fourth character and GIGANTIC hopes for more~Healy's narration, so laidback and funny and surprisingly modern and natural, feels like a character all on its own. There's constant foreshadowing and subtle trickery, in which this omniscient narrator fools us into believing the worst, one thing over another, and constantly catches us by happy surprise. His humorous perception of the characters and the goings-on in the novel make things EVEN FUNNIER, if you can believe it. And I look on this voice as a faceless character that I adore almost as much as the rest of the book!Because The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy is to develop into an ongoing series, you'd maybe think that it ends in a dissatisfying, wide-open, even abrupt, way and that COULDN'T BE FARTHER FROM THE TRUTH. The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy has an ending of perfect proportions, everything tidied up yet still left room for possibilities to stretch, and closes on a happy, high-spirited note in which it's obvious that continuous adventures are BOUND to come. I want to read the sequel, and every sequel after that, PURELY FOR SELFISH and JOYOUS reasons. I want to read every book after because I am SO IN LOVE with this story and these characters and my seedling expectations for the light romances between the Princes Charming and their princesses.Originally posted at Paranormal Indulgence on 7/3/12

This book will be a guaranteed hit with some audiences--like my 11 year old daughter, who is into unorthodox princess stories like Ella Enchanted or Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles, and my 9 year old son, who loved the oddball narration in the book How to Train Your Dragon. This was the perfect mash-up of a screwy adventure plot and its fairy tale basis.The four princes of Rapunzel, Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty haven't got much to show for their brief splash of stardom. The bards of their respective kingdoms have labelled them all as "Prince Charming" and focused on their lack of heroics. Prince Frederic (Cinderella) was an impressive dancer, sure, but the real focus was on the rest of the story. Liam (Sleeping Beauty) and Duncan (Snow White) had awakened princesses with kisses, but Briar Rose turned out to be a despot and Duncan wasn't settling into married life as well as one would hope. Then there was Gustav (Rapunzel) and Rapunzel had not only saved herself but then she'd healed him with her tears--poor prince Gustav couldn't hold his manly head up after that. This story takes place after that... when the bards of the kingdom have disappeared and the witch from Rapunzel has concocted a wicked plot to finally get her fifteen seconds of fame.The illustrations and the tone of this were reminiscent of Disney's Tangled--and the illustrations in this were amazing. I wish I'd bought this in hardcover just so I could flip through the book and stare at them. (For those buying the Kindle version, I was impressed at the appearance on the Kindle and though the file size is larger than most non-illustrated books, it's impressively small for how many illustrations there are in this.) I can't believe this is Todd Harris's first published book. His artwork was the ideal complement to the story. It's fun and fanciful and made me laugh out loud. I would love to have this artwork on my daughter's walls. It's gorgeous.I laughed out loud a lot while reading this. But it's not just all funny bits and odd moments. There was some real character growth throughout this as the princes learned to appreciate each other's strengths and work together. My favorite line was probably this one:"Look," Liam said, "sometimes being a hero isn't about getting the glory. It's about doing what needs to be done."***For parents: This was ideal for a bedtime story for kids who probably think they're too old for bedtime stories and definitely safe for all readers. No profanity. And violence was similar to what you'd expect from the original fairy tales--well, actually less violent than most of them (Grimm are grim.) And it's a great read for adults too. If you're a big fan of the play "Into the Woods," you'll find this lighter but equally entertaining.Both the illustrator and author are going on my guaranteed buy list. This was really a fantastic showing from both of them. They matched. Perfectly.

My 8-year-old LOVES this and I got lots of mommy points for this Christmas present.

Really funny book... The Prince Charmings are the best! Liam is the most heroic, Duncan is really weird, Fredric is so frail, and Gustav is the most hotheaded and stubborn! Really good read - definitely recommend the book and the rest of this hilarous trilogy.

If you're looking for something to read that is hillarious, filled with adventure, fun, witty and just generally awsome then look no further - The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom is all those things and more!Ever wondered who all those Prince Charmings were in the fairy tales of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel and Snow White? Well, this is the story of those Princes, their real names, what really happened in those stories and what happens when they all happen across each other and embark on the funniest adventure I've ever read!This book is a laugh a minute. Its not very often I read a 'funny' book but when I do it only usually gets the occasional chuckle out of me. This one had me laughing out loud every few minutes - in public! I loved it!Its not just the bizzare adventure and the strange situations the Princes get themselves into... its the dialogue, the sarcasm, the very fast comedy, its so cleverly written. The inter-action between the Princes is hillarious, mostly because they are so differnt from each other. Each of them think the others are strange, and all the Princes are especially baffled by Prince Duncan - Snow's husband. I've got to say it - he's completely cuckoo - in the best possible way! He provides a huge chunk of the humour in the things he says and the strange things he does, I looked forward to hearing what he had to say next. He was definitely my favourite Prince by far!Seriously cannot recommend this book enough for ANY age of reader. Its classed as middle grade but I'm nearly 30 and I'm already hunting down a copy of book two and pre-ordering book 3, because like with some other middle grade books (such as Harry Potter etc), some things can definitely be enjoyed by all ages and this is certainly one of them!

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, is a novel perspective on some of the popular fairy tales (Cinderella, Snow White, Repunzele, Sleeping Beauty) It focuses on the four princes and what happens next. The short lived "happily ever after" has lead to a rip roaring, frolicking fun filled mad cap adventure which is a delight to the whole family (for us, boys, aged between 6 & 12). The four "Prince Charming's" fortuatously meet which leads them to attempt rescuing, princesses and bards whole contending with a whole hoard of fairy tale villains.The language is contemporary and descriptive. The illustrations are alluring. The story is quick moving, actively jumping from one adventure to another.If reading the story aloud, be prepared to extend reading sessions or suffer the groans of your children when stopping. Highly recommended.

It's a fun take on the old fairy tales with a whole host of characters having fun, exciting, scary and comical adventures . I enjoyed it very much and can't wait to read the next one in the series .