Once Upon A Marigold

In this witty spoof of fairy tales, Christian, a commoner, falls for Princess Marigold, and it's up to him to untwist an odd love triangle and foil a scheming queen who wants to take over the kingdom.

The companion to Ferris' madcap "Once Upon a Marigold" and "Twice Upon a Marigold" offers evil plot-twists, sweet romance, and the kidnapping of the royal princess.

Since Queen Olympia's fateful fall into the river, newlyweds Christian and Marigold have been living happily ever after. And they had every intention of keeping it that way--until they find out that Olympia may not be as gone as they thought. Turns out Olympia is alive and well in a faraway village, having lost her memory after her ill-timed tumble. But one day she awakes and remembers her previous glory as queen. Accompanied by Lazy Susan (Sleeping Beauty's slacker sister) and Stan Lucasa (a gentleman with a surprising destiny), Olympia returns, determined to take back the kingdom. Yet, thanks to a cast of familiar characters, grabbing the throne may not be as easy as Olympia thinks!

Relates the misadventures of Marigold, a monkey, as she shops with her mother for a coat, makes a hobby of "bugging" her best friend, Maxine the hippo, and imaginatively copes with finding the right outfit for the first day of school.

Sandy Huntington-Ackerman's life becomes increasingly complicated when his bungling, moneygrubbing uncles try to shanghai the family fortune by poisoning a birthday cake. Luckily, those conniving uncles prove yet again that they can't do anything right. Instead of bumping off the whole family, they put Sandy's mom and dad and their pet chicken into mysterious comas. Sandy joins forces with his loyal butler and a wise and wacky nurse to save his parents and squelch his uncles' felonious high jinks.

David has no greater wish than to explore the mountains behind his new home in North Carolina and as he does he finds a wonder never dreamed of, the Phoenix. The Phoenix introduces David to an endless list of his friends from mythology and in the process opens David's eyes to the wide world both the unseen world and seen world. In the unseen world David and the Phoenix share many adventures all the while a scientist is trying to capture the Phoenix to prove to the world that the bird is real. The phoenix takes David on "educational field trips" to meet sea monsters, fauns and other creatures. Plus they hatch a hysterical plot to scare off an over eager scientist from the phoenix's trail. David learns some valuable lessons about life, one is that nothing remains the same as one grows up. The other is... well perhaps you should read the book yourself and find your own lessons within the pages. A well written story, "David and the Phoenix" has no particular time setting so that it could very well be placed in current time. It brings back to me memories of times when life was much simpler, more pleasant and without the problems we as adults face. It's a story of childhood and the dreams that children of every age share and which we all to soon leave behind. Of course, there is the traditional fiery death of the phoenix in the story.