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The Goose Girl (Books of Bayern) Paperback – July 25, 2017

by Shannon Hale (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 1,722 ratings
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In this beloved first book in the Books of Bayern, from New York Times bestselling author Shannon Hale, Princess Ani must become a goose girl before she can become queen.

Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, spends the first years of her life listening to her aunt's stories and learning the language of the birds, especially the swans. As she grows up, Ani develops the skills of animal speech, but she never feels quite comfortable speaking with people.

So when Ani's mother sends her away to be married in a foreign land, she finds herself at the mercy of her silver-tongued lady in waiting, who leads a mutiny that leaves her alone, destitute, and fleeing for her life. To survive, Ani takes on work as a royal goose girl, hiding in plain sight while she develops her forbidden talents and works to discover her own true, powerful voice.

The first book in master storyteller Shannon Hale's beloved Books of Bayern series is equal parts fantastical and romantic, with an unforgettable protagonist to root for at its center.

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Previous page
  1. Reading age
    10 - 13 years, from customers
  2. Book 1 of 4
    Books of Bayern
  3. Print length
    432 pages
  4. Language
    English
  5. Grade level
    7 - 9
  6. Dimensions
    5 x 1.15 x 7.75 inches
  7. Publisher
    Bloomsbury USA Childrens
  8. Publication date
    July 25, 2017
  9. ISBN-10
    1681193167
  10. ISBN-13
    978-1681193168
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A magical retelling of the Grimms' fairy tale . . . Hale's retelling is a wonderfully rich one, full of eloquent description and lovely imagery." - starred review, School Library Journal

"Enchanting." - The New York Times Book Review

"Luscious language . . . leads to a gorgeous, dramatic climax." - Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Shannon Hale is the Newbery Honor–winning and New York Times bestselling author of the Princess Academy series, The Books of Bayern, Book of a Thousand Days, Dangerous, and the graphic novels Rapunzel's Revengeand Calamity Jack, as well as the Ever After High and Princess in Black series, and the upcoming The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl for Marvel. She also wrote three novels for adults, including Austenland, now a major motion picture starring Keri Russell. She and her husband, the author Dean Hale, have four children and live near Salt Lake City, Utah.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury USA Childrens; New edition (July 25, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1681193167
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1681193168
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 10 - 13 years, from customers
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 7 - 9
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.5 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 1.15 x 7.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 1,722 ratings

About the author

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Shannon Hale

Shannon Hale

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New York Times best selling author Shannon Hale started writing books at age ten and never stopped, eventually earning an MFA in Creative Writing. After nineteen years of writing and many rejections, she published The Goose Girl, the first in her award-winning Books of Bayern series. She has since published 40 books for young readers including the Newbery Honor winner Princess Academy and its two sequels; multiple award winner Book of a Thousand Days; and graphic novel memoirs Real Friends, Best Friends, and Friends Forever (with LeUyen Pham). With frequent collaborator LeUyen Pham, she created the adorable Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn picture book series. Her novels for the adult crowd include Austenland (now a major motion picture starring Keri Russell). Shannon and her husband Dean Hale have collaborated on several projects, such as Eisner-nominee Rapunzel's Revenge (with Nathan Hale); early chapter book series The Princess in Black (with LeUyen Pham); two novels about the unbeatable Marvel superhero Squirrel Girl; and the DC graphic novels Diana: Princess of the Amazons (with Victoria Ying) and Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld (with Asiah Fulmore). They live with their four children and two cat overlords near Salt Lake City, Utah.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
1,722 global ratings
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Good quality, 5 bucks, and always a great read. This is one of the best purchases I've ever made
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Top reviews from the United States

Nicole Burton
5.0 out of 5 stars she did it again
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2024
Verified Purchase
Shannon Hale’s words are like a comforting embrace. I love her style of writing, and this is the second book I have read of hers.

I loved it! The story is a simple one, but incredibly character driven. The heroes are endearing, the villains believable and vile. Fantastic read.
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Mir
5.0 out of 5 stars A lovely retelling of a fairy tale about a wronged Princess with a special gift
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2006
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SPOILER ALERT:
For those who are not familiar with the Grimm's fairy tale this book is based on, this review contains some things you may consider SPOILERS. Know that it follows the original story line in all the main points, but fleshes out the characters and gives cool explanations for the abilities of the maid/princess/etc to do the things they do. (But, like, really? You never read that fairy tale? So good. Go read it.)

One of my very fave fairy tales as a very young Mir was "The Goose Girl". I especially loved reading aloud the rhymes--'Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it/Sadly, sadly, would she rue it," and "Blow, wind, blow." I was horrified in that particular, sensitive way of children that someone would decapitate a lovely horse such as Falada, the beloved, talking horse of the princess protagonist. Clearly, evil was afoot if such a dastardly deed was conscionable. I imagined Curdken's chase for his cap. (In my chikdhood's version of the tale, that was his name. In other versions--and in this retelling--it's Conrad's hat that goes rolling over hill and dale, sparking his pursuit. And I delighted in the horrible, terrible justice that befell the villainess. Just thinking about it makes me feel 6 years old all over again, feeling the magic of the story--all the stories--and how to a child, all this was so plausible: that a horse should talk, that the lock of hair should speak (some versions have drops of blood on a hanky), that a princess should command the wind, that justice would prevail.

Shannon Hale has taken that brief, bloody, magical tale that may be familiar to you and fleshed it out in a story written for a YA audience, but sufficiently skilled, lyrical, and well-plotted in the telling that an adult like me was engrossed and loath to put it down even to have supper.

In this retelling, the Princess Anidora-Kiladra (Anifor short) is a misfit in her own family. Even as a newborn she evidenced a strangeness: She didn't open her eyes for three days, not until her aunt (gifted with a special "speech") spoke her into wide-eyedness. This hint of a special power of speaking is hinted at from the opening, but develops beautifully. We see the not-well-loved child, Princess Ani, grow close to her aunt, who can speak to animals. She learns the language of swans, she learns some of the bird dialects, and she senses something latent in herself, something she cannot fully enunciate.

It turns out that out of political considerations (fear of war), the Queen--who has the gift of people speech, ie persuasive to humans) betroths Ani to the prince of the neighboring acquisitive, hawkish kingdom. En route (as in the fairy tale) Ani's lady in waiting, Selah, who is deceitful and potent in people speech, gains many of the guards to her side, and they mutiny. Ani must hide in the forest of this foreign land, where she is befriended by a forest widow and her son.

Ani ends up, as the Princess in the original tale, working as a goose girl for the king whose son she had been fated to marry. Without a persuasive gift of speech of her own, she is at the mercy of the powers around her. From privilege to the lowest echelon of society. A drastic change of status.

What will she do?

She ponders how to fix what has been damaged (and it's more than just her status). And, in the process, she begins to develop her gift. She learns goose speech, which is (surprisingly) not like swan speech. It's a gift that will serve her well. The start of a new journey of acquisitions--of insight, of power, of perspective, of friends, of confidence.

Through the treacheries and friendships and tests and hardships, she begins to understand what her privileged and curtailed palace life had kept her from learning. And she learns one very important thing: She can speak to the wind. The fairy tale glosses over this great gift. Hale develops it as part of the evolving plot and part of the evolving, maturing Ani.

We know, from the fairy story, that she will get her prince, and their romance develops believably and sweetly in Hale's tale, somewhat reminiscent of EVER AFTER, the film retelling of Cinderella. We sense that her trials will only make her a better future ruler, one who has walked in the shoes of the poor and oppressed and outcast and unjustly accused.

Because it is a fairy tale retold, we know the ending though not all the details of how to get there. The special pleasure here is in the details.

A marvelous, magical story. RECOMMENDED for young and middle-aged and old.

Mir of Mirathon blog
51 people found this helpful
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akb-bookwrom
5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed it on 1st Reading, Loved it on 2nd Reading
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2009
Verified Purchase
The first time I read this story, I thought it was fun and enjoyed the development of the characters and the relationship between the princess and the prince. There were parts of the story I didn't really get why they were included and seemed like they didn't fit in the story. It seemed to drag in the beginning, and I was annoyed with how wimpy Princess Ani is in the start of the book. I recently reread the story and really loved it. I understood why everything was included in the book and pushed the story along. It no longer dragged, but I saw the development of Ani's personality.

The Goose Girl starts with the birth of Crown Princess Ani who grows up in the shadows of her beautiful Mother who is talented in people-speaking. Her mother the Queen never quite approves of Ani who has the gift of animal-speaking in a Kingdom that scorns such a gift. Her mother the Queen has little value in Ani and gives the crown to Ani's younger brother then sends Ani off to a distant Kingdom to marry the Prince there, thus being rid of Ani. Ani's lady-in-waiting, Selia, is also gifted with people-speaking and sees that Ani does nothing to reclaim her crown from her Mother and thinks to steal Ani's future crown. On the 3-month trip to the Kingdom next door, Selia initiates a coup and takes Ani's clothes, name, and all to present herself as the Princess to the betrothed Prince. Ani survives the slaughter and makes her way to her new Kingdom only to see Selia in her place. Ani takes a job as a goose girl tending the King's geese. She does this to hide from Selia's guards and to earn money to return to her mother and have her mother fix this for her.

Ani starts out as a young girl who is never comfortable in her own skin. She is self-conscience, unsure, dependent, and naive. In her defense, she's never had a friend that wasn't paid to be her friend nor ever had a helpful or praising word from her mother. Through her experience as the goose girl, she finds true friends and finds her own true voice. She grows up. She starts as a timid girl wanting mom to fix her problems and grows into a young woman with confidence, determination, and love--love of self, of true friends, and of a handsome fellow.

This book is well written with a great story to tell. I've read the follow-up book  Enna Burning (Books of Bayern)  and enjoyed it as well. I highly recommend this book to all!

Hales continues writing books set in the same world, but from different character's point of view.
 Enna Burning (Books of Bayern)
River Secrets (The Books of Bayern)
Forest Born (Books of Bayern)
3 people found this helpful
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TxCrist
4.0 out of 5 stars I liked it!
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2023
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A book written for 10-13 year olds (so I’ve heard) but also a well written story to be enjoyed by all.
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Lydia C.
5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely Fairy Tale
Reviewed in Canada on August 25, 2022
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Great book! Absolutely golden
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Sabrina Comello
5.0 out of 5 stars Splendido.
Reviewed in Italy on August 20, 2020
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Il romanzo è stupendo, la protagonista è un amore, i comprimari sono splendidi e la storia d’amore è dolcissima.
Un libro da tenere vicino quando ci si sente soli e si ha bisogno di un po’ di conforto.
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iJetGemini
5.0 out of 5 stars A friend recommended this book and I thought hey I'll give it ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 2, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is my 1st book that I've read since school. So about 10 years, long time right? A friend recommended this book and I thought hey I'll give it a shot. It goes very indepth and very detailed. As a 1st book to pick up again I loved this and already purchased the 2nd book which i recommend DO NOT LOOK AT THE DESCRIPTION OF THE AMAZON PAGE on the 2nd book as there is a spoiler to the ending right there on the 1st line which i fell victim to :/

The only downfall was that sometimes the word "and" word get used repeatedly. "like this and like that and sometimes this and something" but that's minor compared to how good the book actually is if you like the out of the ordinary, fantasy story. I highly recommend it
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gw
5.0 out of 5 stars Creative interpretation of the Fairy Tale
Reviewed in Germany on March 11, 2015
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The basic elements of the fairy take have been kept but the story has new elements and many likeable characters who will pay a greater role in later books.
One person found this helpful
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madforbooks
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved the book like the others in the series
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 29, 2014
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Loved the book like the others in the series. My daughter has read the book at least 3 times - it is one of her all time favourites.
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