The Salamander Spell

Written by E.D. Baker

Narrated by Katherine Kellgren

E. D. Baker scored international acclaim for her debut The Frog Princess, a Book Sense Children's Pick. The Salamander's Spell features sisters Chartreuse and Grassina in a tale of magic, humor and grave danger. "Continues the evolution of the series from a simple retelling of a well-known fairy tale into an entertaining saga featuring a fully developed magical world of its own."-School Library Journal

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 2, 2010
• ISBN: 9781449805104

E.D. Baker

E. D. Baker is the author of the Tales of the Frog Princess series, The Wide-Awake Princess series, The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker series, and many other delightful books for young readers, including A Question of Magic, Fairy Wings,and Fairy Lies. Her first book, The Frog Princess, was the inspiration for Disney's hit movie The Princess and the Frog. She lives with her family and their many animals in Churchville, Maryland. www.talesofedbaker.com Facebook/EDBakerAuthor

Reviews for The Salamander Spell

[the1butterfly · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really got into this one- Grassina's backstory was very interesting. The only downside was knowing what's going to happen with her relationship with Haywood. It also gave a lot of perspective on Chartreuse.

[mrsdwilliams · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Tales of the Frog Princess, book 5.Prequel to The Frog Princess. Fans of the series will enjoy the background provided here--how Olivene became a hag, the relationship between Grassina and Chartreuse, and the way that Haywood and Grassina met and fell in love. There are no new plot developments here. The book's purpose is simply to fill in the backstories of characters who appear in the series. Fans of the series will love it, but I would recommend starting with The Frog Princess and working into this one later, rather than starting with it.

[jjmcgaffey · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Even fluffier than Emma's stories. Part of it is - this is Grassina and Chartreuse's story, and how Olivene was hit by the curse. And since, if you've read Emma's books, you already know not only this story (though not all the details) but how it eventually comes out - it's kind of...predetermined. Some of the details are cute, like Grassina liking the swamp as much as Emma does (and for some of the same reasons), or how she and Haywood met (and why she's so sappy in love with him). Some are annoying - young Chartreuse is very much like the girl that got the original curse, in her treatment of her sister and her suitors. But mostly it's rather dull, and therefore a very quick read.

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great to learn the backstory of Grassina, Chartreuse, Olivine, Hayward, et al. I was a little frustrated that there's still a gap in the history of Greater Greensward, and Chartreuse's character is a bit underdeveloped, but the series still charms and I'm planning to read every entry as fast as my library buys them. At the same time, I admit I'm going to want something meatier pretty soon. After all, I'm not 10 years old!

[booksandbosox · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cute and interesting prequel to the Tales of the Frog Princess. In this story, we read about Grassina and Chartreuse (Emma's aunt and mother) as they come of age. We see first-hand the transformation of Olivene into the wicked witch she is when the Tales of the Frog Princess first begin and the problems this causes for the kingdom. It was a nice change in perspective for the stories and I think Grassina was a good choice for the focus of the prequel. The one thing I was surprised to see was that Baker did not make Chartreuse more sympathetic in this prequel. She just isn't a likable character, ever. I also would have liked Baker to go a little bit further in her timeline instead of ending the story when she did. Regardless, still a very nice addition to the Frog Princess works.