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    The Magic Fishbone
    The Magic Fishbone
    The Magic Fishbone
    Audiobook27 minutes

    The Magic Fishbone

    Written by Charles Dickens

    Narrated by Cathy Dobson

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Written in 1867, The Magic Fishbone is one of Charles Dickens' best loved fairy tales for children. It tells the story of an impoverished King who can barely manage to keep his nineteen children, and it is a long time until pay day. One day he meets a Fairy Godmother who tells him to give his eldest daughter, Princess Alicia, a piece of salmon, and after she has eaten everything but the bone, she is to dry and polish the bone carefully because it has magic powers. The magic fishbone will grant one wish - but only if it is used at the exact right time. Various catastrophes befall the family, but Princess Alicia does not call upon the powers of the magic fishbone, much to her father's annoyance. Until finally one day, something happens which leaves her in no doubt that this really is the right time...
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRed Door Consulting
    Release dateJul 29, 2011
    ISBN9781467668194
    Author

    Charles Dickens

    Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is the most popular and, many believe, the greatest English author. He wrote many classic novels, including David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and A Christmas Carol. Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities are available from Brilliance Audio.

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    Reviews for The Magic Fishbone

    3.5/5

    22 ratings2 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Just a short story, but it's listed on Goodreads as its own thing, so I'll happily review it.

      Delightful! The conceit (it helps to know it) is that when this was originally published, Dickens pretended it was written by a child. So, like Daisy Ashford's The Young Visiters, it's rife with intentional silliness. It's young author has very little idea of what life in a palace is like, so the Royal Family behaves much like a typical Victorian middle-class household, with a couple of servants, Father going off to work (and perhaps stopping at the fishmonger on the way back), and the princess improvising bandages from the Royal rag bag. All of this is absolutely charming, and would be enjoyable even if you weren't sure why Dickens had chosen the approach.

      I lapped it up, and like an excellent Sangria on a hot August day, it was gone before I knew it.

      P.S. I have no idea what the illustrations in the edition I read were supposed to be, but I reckon they're for some other story, having no resemblance to the events that unfolded in the prose side of things. I ignored them.


      (Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!
    • 3/5
      A tale about knowing when to ask for help. Cute.