Waking Beauty by Leah Wilcox, illustrated by Lydia Monks.

See the bright pink cover?  What you can’t see is the glitter on the title too.  Looks like quite a book for little girls, doesn’t it?  But I am here to tell you that this is one version of Sleeping Beauty that will have the little boys clamoring for another reading! 

When Prince Charming approaches the castle covered in vines, he hears a horrible noise that he thinks is a dragon.  He draws his sword, prepared to do battle, but to his dismay finds a snoring princess fast asleep.  Three fairies appear and offer advice to the prince, but he refuses to listen.  He tries many ways to get Beauty to wake up.  He shouts, jumps on the bed, dumps water on her, and finally resorts to firing her out of a cannon.  But nothing will wake Beauty up except a kiss, which is something that completely terrifies the brave prince.  Will he be willing to wake her?

A great rhyming story, you will get delighted responses from both boys and girls to this story as they realize it is a real twist on the traditional tale.  The rhymes add to the jolly nature of the story and the pure fun of the twists.  Monks artwork is beautiful, graceful and lovely, but doesn’t shy away from the slapstick nature of the book either.  The art offers a bridge between the beauty of the traditional tale and the silliness of this version.

Highly recommended for 4-7 year olds, especially as a final book in a story time.  I always guaranteed good laughs in my final book at a preschool story time.  This one is a perfect candidate and definitely guarantees giggles.