Inside the Circle (2007)
Capturing the raw power of a grassroots hip-hop movement, the award-winning documentary Inside the Circle tells the stories of strikingly talented b-boys Josh and Omar, former best friends who become rivals when they join competing dance crews. Immersed in the b-boy culture of defiant creativity, Omar rises to international renown, while Josh tangles with the law. Both of them struggle to keep dance at the center of their lives, and the “B-Boy City” competitive events thrown by visionary street dancer Romeo Navarro serve as emotional milestones in their journey to adulthood. Facing off in intense dance battles that mirror the larger events in their lives, Josh and Omar seek respect, meaning and identity “inside the circle.”

• DN EP 097: Inside the Circle - Marcy Garriott
• INSIDE THE CIRCLE Breakin' Convention Screening
• Routes - Alex Reuben
• Tokyo Cowboys - Daneeta Loretta Saft & Patrick Jackson
• Routes Hits a Cinema Near You

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• SOLO/0705 - The Powerful Particles [Nishi 80]
• Adaptive - Ministry Of Information [Tropic 17]
• Pheek - Un Peu d'Espoir [Epsilonlab 10]
• Zucchini - In The Rain Under The Clouds [Bump Foot 1]
• Mr Cloudy - Night Dub [Kyoto Digital 10]
• Elbee Bad - One Mo' Dance [Sweet Smelling Surfaces 23]
• Diss0nance - Flutter [Unfound 19]
• Nights In Ural - Spuren Im Schnee [2063 54]
• Lodestar - Sometimes It's Starry Eyes [Avionix 2]
• Lump - Kumina [Textone 26]

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Introducing Mandy, Laura and Sam - the three members of the latest chart topping girl band - the chiX. This is the story of how it all began, before they were famous.

Oh, but we should not forget the other sister, Gladys. You might not have heard of her before. She's not in the band because she's too young and she's too geeky. But she is the brainiest. And although they others don't always admit it, they couldn't have got anywhere without her.

Read by Natasha. Duration 14 min.

Gladys and the chiX

Hello this is Natasha and this is a story about some sisters who had an ambition to be famous.

Have you ever wanted to be lead singer in a band? I mean, have you ever picked up an old cardboard toilet roll, held it to your mouth, and pretended that it was a microphone ?

Or have you ever found yourself tapping out a beat on the kitchen table with a couple of felt tip pens? Or come up with a great new dance in front of the mirror?

I bet you have because almost everyone has. Everyone except Gladys. She had never done anything like that. She was much too clever to mistake a toilet roll for a microphone. But her three older sisters had all done it. Their names were Mandy, Laura and Sam. And all three of them loved dancing. And while they were dancing, they secretly imagined that they were on TV and everyone was watching them. They also dreamed what it would be like to be really, really famous. When they went to school, the kids on the bus would say “Hey girls, you were great on TV last night.” Only they probably wouldn't go on the bus to school any more. The record company would give them a black stretch limo as long as the street and with dark windows. That's how they would go around once they were famous.

One Saturday night, all four sisters were squashed together on the couch watching the Eurovision Song contest. If you don't know what the Eurovision Song Contest is, that' s probably because you live in Mexico or somewhere twenty time zones away from Europe. In fact Gladys remarked:

“I wish we lived somewhere like Mexico or Alaska, and then we wouldn't be able to watch this trash.”

But Laura said, “I expect all the Mexicans watch it on the Internet.” And Gladys had to admit that she hadn't thought of that, because although she was the brainiest, she couldn't always think of everything.

Just in case you are lucky enough never to have seen the Eurovision Song Contest, I had better tell you about it. It's when all the worst bands in Europe get together and see who can come up with the corniest, cheesiest, naffest, most annoying tune, and who can dress up in the most ridiculous costume and look the silliest dancing and prancing around on stage. Only the bands taking part don't always understand it that way. They probably think that they are really it ! And do you know what? 100s of millions of people watch it every year. I'm not kidding. It's that popular.

It's true that quite a cool band called Abba once won it. But that was like, 7 zillion years ago. In fact, it was so long ago that Dad was still at school. And nobody cool has ever won it since.

Well Mandy,Laura and Sam liked watching it - There was a Danish Man dressed up as woman, a Norwegian Flamenco dancer. and a rugged Moldovian with blond hair extensions. They were just funny. The only band really worth seeing was from Ukraine. The singers were three beautiful but mean looking girls with straight black hair falling over their white faces..

“You know what?” said Mandy. “I bet we could do that. We could be just as good as them, and be on the Eurovision Song contest. In fact, I bet we could win it.”

“Only the UK never gets any points,” said Gladys.

“So ! We say we're from Montengro. But what I'm point out, is that they are on telly, and like billions of people are watching them, and we are just as good-looking as they are and can dance just as well as they can.”

“But we can't sing,” said Gladys.

“Well neither can they,” said Mandy. “Besides, Laura has a great voice. Everyone says so.”

Gladys still thought it was a silly idea so she said:

“But Laura wears a tracksuit and gold bangles, even when she's going out with her boyfriend. You can't dress like that if you're on TV.”

“Well, said Mandy, “When we're famous, all the top designers will send us free gear, so Laura won't have to wear a tracksuit unless she feels like it, like when she wants to go shopping and not get noticed by all the fans. Beside, you aren't in this band, because you're too young.”

“And too Geeky..” added Laura.

Gladys hadn't really thought about being in the band, but when they said that she wasn't in it, she felt well, a bit left out. It wasn't fair. She could play the piano. If anyone was going to form a band, it ought to be her.

“Well at least I know how to read music, which is more than any of you lot,” she said. “So you'll have to have me in your band because you won't know what tune to sing.”

Laura scoffed:

“Ah come off it who's ever heard of a band that knows how to read music ? We're not the church choir ! Now go and play computer games like a good little geek while we get ready to be famous.”

“Yeah go on G-laddy,” said Sam, “Stop annoying your older and better sisters. You aren't in the band anyway, and it's time to tuck your dollies up in bed.”

It was particularly annoying when Sam spoke like that, because she was born only a year and a half before Gladys, but she looked a lot older, especially when she put on make-up, so somehow people took her more seriously.

“I haven't got any dollies,” said Gladys as she left the room - “Unlike you darling Samantha - you've still got six ! Besides, your band hasn't even to a name - so it's not a band at all. Good night.”

On Sunday afternoon, Gladys spent a lot of time on her homework, because she was working on a big project about Ancient Egypt and she had to research the pyramids on the Internet. But her three older sisters watched the music channel on TV and tried to copy some of the dance routines.”

Later that evening, they were still talking about what to call their girl band - because it wasn't easy to come up with cool name.

“How about The Smith Sisters?” said Mandy. You see, their name was Smith.

“Boring ! ” said Laura.

‘Or The Teddy Girls?” suggested Sam. Because they lived in a place called Teddington.

“Too babyish” said Mandy.

Dad was there for a while. He had go wind of this idea about forming a band - though nobody had actually told him about it. He said : “How about the Rich Girls?” because he was hoping that they would pay for his retirement. But the girls took no notice of him - they never did - so he went out to the front drive to fix his motor bike, which was how he usually spent Sunday Evenings.

While they were talking, Gladys had been trying to imagine a name that both sounded good, and looked good when it was written down - like on a poster or an album cover. When the others went quiet, she said:

“I think “chiX spelt with a small c and a big X because it's a Chick Band and X looks like a kiss.”

“Yeah, or like “Leave me alone” which is cool,” said Laura, “But I bet there's already a girl band called the chiX because it's too good.”

Mandy searched iTunes and YouTube and she couldn't find any other band with that name. They couldn't think of anything else, so their name just sort of became “chiX. But somehow they didn't quite remember that it was Gladys who had come up with it. It was just like they had always been the chiX ever since they were born.

Now all they needed was a song - but of course they didn't have one. A week went by and the chiX almost got forgotten. Then next Saturday, when Dad came home from the football match, he said :

“Hey girls, how's your band going. Have you got a gig fixed up yet?”

“Of course they haven't go a gig,” said Gladys. “They haven't even got a song.”

Dad was disappointed. You could could see from his face that in his mind, his darling daughters were already rich and famous and had bought their beloved daddy a new bike, a cottage by the sea, and a subscription to the sports channel.

Mandy said: “I'm working on it.”

“Oh go on Mandy, do sing it to me, pretty please, I”m sure it's such a lovely song,” said Gladys.
And Mandy looked annoyed.

“Well don't cry. I'll write you some words.”

“How could you write the lyrics for a song?” asked Laura. “You don't know anything about relationships. You're too young.”

“Not all songs are about relationships,” replied Gladys. “Some people think about other things apart from boys.”

And Mandy said: “Besides, before we start on any songs, we need to decide what sort of musical genre we're going to do. I mean, are we going to be more like the Spice Girls or the SugarBabes?”

“Can anyone really tell the difference?” asked Gladys. But that gave her an idea to work on. So she went up to her room, sat down at her desk and scribbled down a few ideas. Later she came to the living room and switched off the television. Her sisters started to say “Ah come on Glad, what was that for?' But she took no notice. She stood in front of TV and read out her words:

You've had your sugar
You've had your spice
Now you're looking
For something nice.
Not too sweet
and not too sharp
The chiX are here
to take your heart.

“Not bad, ” said Laura,” but “sharp doesn't rhyme with heart.”

“Well what do you want it to rhyme with - Harp? Besides it's an internal rhyme. And i've got a chorus.

But don't you think
We're an easy catch
don't count your chix
Before they hatch !

Well at least that rhymes - said Mandy. Here, that's not too bad. Did you really write those words yourself Gladdy?

“Of course”, she said, and before she handed over her words she signed her name on the bottom and wrote Copyright Gladys Smith so that they others wouldn't forget that she composed them.

Now the chiX had some words, all the needed was some music. And I'll tell you about how they made that another time soon.

And don't forget - there are loads more stories on Storynory.com. So drop by soon, and listen to a few. For now, from me, Natasha, Bye Bye !

*Sketches etc*
=============

* Dial a Joke Lines 1 - 4 {#Background music: Laugh Track (The Black Math Experiment)};

* The KidsCast Version of Jack & The Beanstalk
{Background Music: Change Me(The Billio Band); Look Whats Coming(Anima-TV); Magistical Symphonic(Rob Van Den Berg); Passion Ternelle(David Cyr); Romantic Escape(Jim Richmond); Slow Flute(Howitzer) and The Opening Watchmaker Cue(David Beard)}

* Holmes in 30 Seconds-The Six Napoleons( Peeper Radio Theatre ).mp3;

* Jack Packer Fighter Pilot;

* Dominos Pizza(Paul and Storm);

* Wine Gums(Traces of Nuts).

#Music#
=======
# {Show Start} Not on The Radio (Geoff Smith);
# 01-You Don't Care(V project);
# 02-Do You Dream Of Me Dance Remix(Moonshot);
# 03-Come Down(Mossi);
# 04-Pray(Anemo);
# 05-Babushka(Marina V);
# 06-Fairy Tale Utahgirl(Amy Macclain);
# 07-The Insects Party(Scarlatti Tilt);
# 08-Morning Blue(Josh Woodward);
# 09-Orchard Of Mines(Dann From Vanton Globus).

Music (unless otherwise stated above) from music.podshow.com

Sound Effects generally from:

The FreeSound Project ; Flashkit.com/soundfx ; I Love Waves.com ; Plus SoundSnap.com .

GoDaddy.com { kids1 } { kids2 }

The MP3 file for this show contains our show icon file, if this poses a problem to your Mp3 player, please let us know stuff@KidsCast.co.uk and we'll make a special file available for you. If you download using iTunes, you can remove the icon and enhanced tags by selecting our podcast in your podcast listings, RIGHT click then select CONVERT ID TAGS on the ID3 Tag Version drop down select v1.1 and click OK that will make the file ok for your player.

DIRECT DOWNLOAD | PODCAST RSS | WEBSITE |
This podcast was delivered to you via BritCaster.com

]]> 7 Jun 2008 @ 11:20 am +0000 http://rejs71.libsyn.com O Red What makes me passionate about dance and electronic music? This mix showcases tunes which I love, and I guarantee will make you want to move your arms in the air as you listen to them. O Red http://rejs71.libsyn.com
Reel Big Fish - Party Down
B-Movie Britz - Ghost With The Most
The Dandy Warhols - The World Come On
Snovonne - My Sweet Fiend
Jetpack:Missing - Insomnia
King/Clevelands Metal Radio - Sweet Lorain
Love = Action - She Walks On Water
Strangers in Wonderland - So Much More
Sling - Apology
Get Back Loretta - Girlface
Admiral Twin - No 1 Fan
Laws Of Gravity - Dance Song

The Lovely Princess Beatrice has stayed true to her long lost prince Bertie for many a long day. But there was a time when she was seen walking in the Palace Gardens with another prince! Still worse, the Wicked Queen was determined to hold a Royal Wedding to boost the popularity ratings of the Royal Family. Bertie the Frog's hopes of being turned back into a prince and marrying Beatrice were almost dashed into a million tiny pieces.

Read by Natasha. Duration 25 minutes.

It all started like this. Bertie was sitting on his lily leaf in the sun thinking that life as a frog wasn’t all that bad, when he saw Princess Beatrice walking in the palace garden with - another man !

Right away, he recognised the scoundrel as the smarmy Prince Boris. He liked to call himself Boris the Brave, and now Bertie heard his smarmy voice saying:

“And did you ever hear about the time I fought a seven-headed sea-monster?”
“Er, no.’ said Beatrice. “But I’m suspect that I’m going to now..”

Boris started to tell a story which Bertie was certain was untrue, because anyone who has really fought a sea monster would know that they have nine heads, not seven – unless somebody had already cut two of then off, which seemed a bit unlikely.

“Oh dear,” said Bertie. “If the lovely Beatrice marries Boris, I won’t have any reason to go on living. I might as well just hop off and die.”

His only comfort came from Colin he Carp who was swimming by.

“I shouldn’t worry,” said Colin. “Beatrice looks bored silly by that Prince Boris the Boaster.”

A couple of weeks went by, and one evening Bertie saw Beatrice walking in the garden with yet another man. This time it was Prince Freddie from the next-door Kingdom. Freddie was terribly brainy at maths, and he had known Beatrice since they were both little. In fact, he used to help Beatrice with her maths homework. Bertie knew this, and he was just a tiny bit jealous that another prince had been her friend for so long.

“Freddie dear” said Beatrice.

“Ah-oh” thought Bertie. “She called him ‘dear’”. Beatrice went on:

“Do you see that frog sitting on a Lilly leaf? It’s very strange, but sometimes when I see his funny little face, I can’t help thinking of my long lost Prince Bertie”.

Freddie chuckled when he heard this: “Indeed my dear, “ he replied. “How right you are. Bertie always was a bit froggy in the face.”

Bertie was outraged when he heard this. “See here!” he called out. “When I was a prince. I didn’t look in the least bit like a frog.”

But Beatrice and Freddie couldn’t understand what he was saying. All they could hear was “croak! Croak!”, and Freddie remarked:

“Now look– you’ve hurt the little frog’s feelings because you said he looked like Prince Bertie!”

Beatrice smiled for a moment, and then said, “Oh Freddie, don’t be so cruel. You know how dear Prince Bertie is to my heart.” And they both ambled back to the palace.

For the next couple of weeks or so, Bertie didn’t see any princes stepping out into the gardens with Beatrice, and he stopped worrying about Freddie and Boris. But up in the Palace, the Wicked Queen was plotting a Royal Wedding for her step-daughter. As usual, she had her own devious reasons. The King had recently put up taxes, and the Royal Family was becoming rather unpopular. The wicked Queen thought that a Royal Romance followed by a fairy tale wedding would be just the trick to boost the royal ratings and make them popular with the people again.

“Now dear,” she said to the lovely princess Beatrice as she was brushing her hair one morning. “It’s high time you found a nice rich young prince and got married.

“But your Majesty,” cried Beatrice “Prince Bertie has disappeared and nobody knows where he is.”

“Prince Bertie!” spluttered the Queen. “You’re not still hankering after that old flame are you? Since the day he vanished, he hasn’t so much as sent you a postcard. Don’t you see that he’s forgotten all about you!”

“Forgotten me?” said Beatrice with tears in her eyes. “Oh, no he can’t have. My dear Bertie would never do that.. He’s on a top secret mission to save the country. He can’t let anyone know a thing about it. That’s what think, and I won’t believe anything different.”

“Poppycock!” cried the Queen. “Why don’t you just marry Prince Freddie. He’s got lots of money.”

“But, but Freddy’s boring.”

“Well what about Prince Boris.? He’s handsome and rich”

“But Boris boasts and tells fibs ! No, I won’t marry anyone but my dear Bertie. Not ever. I’ll wait a hundred years for him if needs be. “ And with that, Beatrice got up and ran out into the garden.

The queen was furious, because she hated Bertie, and she certainly did not have any plans to turn him back into a prince and suffer him as her son-in-law.

“He’ll be telling those unfunny jokes of his over breakfast, oh no no no, we can’t have that. And riding around on that awful skateboard. Ugh! Its so unroyal ! And besides, he doesn’t approve of my wicked spells. Bertie… He’s out of the question… But Beatrice won’t let him out her thoughts. Poor deluded girl.”

The Wicked Queen thought and thought about the problem for six whole days – but still no solution came to mind.

On the seventh day, she was having her breakfast with the King when he exclaimed:

“Oh Gosh. Oh Golly. For a moment I thought that was Bertie back from the dead!”

And he tapped his newspaper. The queen looked over his shoulder and saw a picture of Bertie – only it wasn’t actually Bertie – it was somebody else who looked just like him.

His name was Norman Crompton and until recently he lived in a castle. The newspaper reported that he had just sold his ancient home including the beautiful deer park that surrounded it. The company that had bought Crompton Castle planned to knock it down and build a multi-story car-park in its place.

The picture showed Norman cracking open a bottle of Champaign. You see, the property company had paid him a lot of money for his castle.

“His heart seems to be in the right place” remarked the queen.
“Yes, in his wallet !” Laughed the King.

Later that day, the Queen asked her chief spy to find Norman Crompton’s mobile phone number for her. When he reported back with the number, she sent him a text message;

“Hi Norman. How would you like to marry the lovely Princess Beatrice and inherit the Kingdom? All you have to do is pretend to be Prince Bertie. Yours, The Wicked Queen.”

Norman texted back right away:

“No kidding? Of course I would – just so long as Bertie doesn’t turn up.”
And the queen replied

“Don’t worry. He’s with the fishes.”
By which Norman understood that Bertie had met a watery grave – because how could he have guessed that he had been turned into a frog? That was the Queen’s closely guarded secret.

That evening, she took Beatrice into a quiet corner of the palace and whispered some very important news to her. Only it wasn’t true news, it was a pack of fibs that she had made up. She claimed that Bertie was about to come back from his top secret mission. She said that this had been told to her that morning by her chief spy-master. He was due back in exactly a month’s time, and the day after his return Beatrice would marry him.

Beatrice was so excited when she heard the news that she didn’t know what to do with herself. As soon as the Wicked Queen had left her, she ran out into the garden and down to the pond.

“Oh dear little frog!” she exclaimed to Bertie. “All this long while that Bertie has been away, I’ve poured my heart out to you. And now, do you know what? He’s coming back! Yes it’s true ! The Queen told me herself. And in a month’s time we are to be wed ! I’m so excited I just want to laugh and cry, dance and lie down, shout and keep my mouth shut, all at the same time.
“
And that’s how Bertie felt too. You see, he really believed that the wicked Queen had decided to turn him back into a prince so that he could marry Beatrice After all. You see, sometimes, when you really want something to happen with all your heart, you are ready to believe even the most unlikely fibs that people tell you.

When he told the little tadpoles about Bertie’s news, they swarmed around in circles and shouted

Yippeeeee !

Sadie the swan said, “Oh Bertie ! A true fairy tale ending. What on earth shall I wear ?”

And even Colin the Carp said,

“Congratulations”

Which is highly unusual, as he’s normally he’s ever so grumpy . Then he added”

“I don’t suppose any fish will be on the invitation list.”
The month went past terribly slowly for both Bertie and Beatrice. The day before the wedding was due to take place, Beatrice was looking out of her window when she saw a gold carriage and six white horses pull up outside the palace. And out of the carriage stepped Prince Bertie:

“Oh dear dear Bertie!” she said to herself “How I long to run and kiss your sweet face, even if it is a bit froggy like Freddie said.”

But Beatrice had been forbidden to speak to Bertie until the moment of her wedding. Both the King and Queen said it was a strict tradition and if she broke it, it would mean terrible bad luck for their future.

And Bertie also saw the golden coach arrive. And although he couldn’t see Norman step out – Elsa the Palace Cat did. She knows all the Palace Gossip and never misses a thing. She ran straight down to the pond with the news.
“Guess what Pond Life,” she murred, “The wicked queen has found somebody called Norman who looks just like Prince Bertie. Beatrice is going to marry him tomorrow and she will never know the difference.”

“I thought that something like that would happen,” said Colin. “If the Wicked Queen went to all the trouble of turning Bertie into a frog, why would she want to turn him back in a prince again? I should think that life up in the palace is much less annoying without Princes Bertie around.”

But Bertie wasn’t listening. He did not know what to do, but he knew he had to do something – so he hitched a lift back up to the Palace on Elsa’s back, and she took him all the way up to Beatrice’s door. She meowed and the Lovely Princess let her in.

“Oh Elsa, “ she said. “You’ve brought me my lucky frog. He probably wants some water. I’ll run a cold bath for him”

But Bertie didn’t fancy a cold bath. Instead, he hopped onto her dressing table and croacked his heart out. Beatrice was quite puzzled. He had seemed to glad when she had first spoken of the wedding, and now that her happiness was almost fulfilled, her frog was upset about something. If only she could understand what all his croaking was about?

That night, she could hardly sleep with excitement. In the morning the maids came in and helped her get into her wedding dress and look at her most radiant and lovely for the wedding. One of them took a broom and tried to shoe Bertie out of the bathroom, but Beatrice just managed to stop her in time before she really hurt the poor little frog. In fact, when she went down to her carriage, she ordered the maid to bring him to the wedding.

“Eee – Yuck ! “ she said as she picked him up.

Bertie had never felt so low in all his life. He felt even sadder than on the day he had been turned into a frog.

Here he was travelling in a golden carriage to his own wedding – only it wasn’t going to be HIS wedding – he was only going to watch his dear princess marry somebody called Norman who happened to look rather like him – and all because of the Wicked Queen !

As Beatrice entered the Church, the orchestra played “Here Comes the Bride”. Her Great-Uncle Prince Evan took her arm and led her down the isle to where Norman and the arch Bishop were already waiting for her. As she stood side by side with Norman in front of the alter she said ever so softly into his ear:

“Darling Bertie: It’s so wonderful that you are back. All the time you’ve been away, I’ve been wondering one thing:”

“And what was that my dear” whispered Norman, trying as best as possible to sound like Bertie. And princess Beatrice whispered

“Why didn’t the skeleton go to the party?”

“I don’t know. Why didn’t the skeleton go to the party?”

“Don’t you know? Because he had no body to go with. … alright then, which ghost has the best hearing?”

“I don’t know my dear. Which ghost does has the best hearing?”
“Why, it’s the eeriest of course!”

Just then, the Achbishop cleared his throat to get their attention. And he began the ceremenony. He asked Norman

“Do you, Bertie, take Betrice to be your lawful wedded wife.”

“And do you, Beatrice, take Bertie to love, honour and Obey”

And Beatrice replied.

“No Way!”

Why ever not? Asked the Bishop

“Because he’s not my Bertie. He’s an imposter! Guards Seize him!”

The wicked Queen jumped up and screamed”

“Guards. Do no such thing. My step-daughter’s gone out of her sweet tiny mind!
But the King said,

“No, No No. Guards Do Seize Him. ! She’s right you know – that isn’t Bertie. Whoever he is, he’s an imposter!”

And then speaking to the Queen he said,

“You See my dear: I had an inkling last night over dinner that there was something not quite right with that young man. I couldn’t put my finger on it – but now Beatrice has said he’s not Bertie – I see that she’s spot on. Do you recall him over dinner? I asked him what he had been up to while he was away, and he replied “Father, I wish I could tell you but it’s a secret.”

Well that’ was pretty strange because if there was one thing Bertie could never keep, it was a secret. And then later on, he only ate one helping of Chocolate Pudding. That was most unlike himself. I thought he must be off colour – nerves about the big day – but no, now I see that it’s because he’s not Bertie.”

And the wicked Queen was afraid that her secret would be found out. So she let the guards drag poor Norman off the palace dungeons. Later on, he escaped – but only after she turned him into a mouse.

When the guards had hauled the imposter out of the cathedral, there was a huge uproar and loads of confusion among the people. The King made a long speech to calm everyone down – in fact lots of them became very bored and either left or nodded off. While he was doing this, Beatrice spoke to her luck frog:
“Dearest little frog,” she said.

“I knew you were trying to tell me something – only I could not quite understand what it was. It was only when I stood side by side with the supposed “Prince Bertie” that I felt troubled. I sort of felt it wasn’t him. And so to make sure, I asked him two of Bertie’s favourite riddles. He didn’t know the answers – even though Bertie had told them to me thousands of times. Then I knew for sure that he was an imposter.

But it was you, dear frog, who first put me on my guard. I’m so grateful I could kiss you:

And with those works, she began to raise Bertie , sitting on the palm of her hand, to her lips.

Bertie closed his eyes and thought:

“Yes! The Lovely Princess Beatrice is about to kiss me at long last, and I will be turned back into a prince.”

But unfortunately, the Wicked Queen saw what was about to happen and

Kerpow !

She pointed her wand at Bertie and shouted

“Eat Slime” at the very second that Beatrice’s lips touched Bertie’s head.
And that was enough to prevent the kiss working, and poor Bertie didn’t turn back into a Prince – he remained a frog and had to hop off back to his pond.

But that evening he wasn’t too sad – because at least he had prevented a lovely princess marrying the wrong person. And there was still chance that one day he would turn back into the True Bertie and Marry his Princess.