fairy tales

Clever Jack Takes the Cake

| Tasha

Clever Jack Takes the Cake by Candace Fleming, illustrated by G. Brian Karas

The creators of Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! return with a delightful fairy tale.  Jack is invited to the princess’ tenth birthday but has nothing to fine enough for a present.  But then Jack has a great idea, he will bake her a birthday cake.  He didn’t have enough money to buy ingredients, so he had to trade for them, work for them, or make them on his own.  Finally it was finished.  Two cake layers, frosting, ten candles, walnuts and a big strawberry.  Jack sets off to the party, but his way is not easy.  Blackbirds fly at him and steal the walnuts from the top of the cake.  To cross a bridge he has to give a troll half of the cake.  The candles are used up escaping a dark, frightening wood.  A bear eats the last of the cake, but not the strawberry.  So all Jack has to give the princess is the big, juicy berry.  But he still has to get into the castle and all the way to the princess.

When I opened this book, it was like returning back to a beloved tale.  Fleming and Karas have created a new tale with the soul of a classic.  From the premise of the poor boy taking a present to the series of disasters, readers will find themselves happily on familiar ground.  That is not to say that there are not surprises, there are and they are great fun!

Fleming’s writing is adroit, offer just the right amount of text per page, just the right amount of detail, and pacing the book perfectly for young listeners.  Her prose is a joy to read aloud, the phrasing fitting perfectly in the mouth.  This is quite simply a book that must be shared aloud.

Karas’ art is winningly done.  Jack’s mop of messy hair, his skinny frame, the dramatic moments of the birds, the troll, and the bear that have great perspectives.  He also plays with the background, washing the illustration of Jack’s home with a dull overlay, gradually blending from white to a warm pink when the princess enters the book.  All of the small details add up to a richness and charm that really add so much to this book.

A delight, this book must be shared to be fully enjoyed.  This is one that must be added to any story time or unit on birthdays, cake, or fairy tales.  But it should also become one of those books that you use any old time when you need a winner.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Schwartz & Wade.

Instructions

| Tasha

Instructions by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Charles Vess

Making this poem into a picture book was pure genius, especially with illustrations by Vess.  Gaiman takes one fairy tale and folk tale image after another and offers them up as instructions for your journey (in life, reading and magic).  The book follows the journey of a cat-like creature who travels through a door into a strange world of myth and whimsy.  Readers, young and old, will be charmed by beloved motifs, surprised by familiar yet strange moments, and ultimately completely satisfied as the journey comes full circle.

Gaiman’s poem reveals why he is such a beloved storyteller as he weaves together giants, dragons, wolves, toads and gems into a book that is about story, myth and our lives as well.  Vess’s art adds greatly to the child-appeal of the poem, offering a vintage, classic fairy tale feel. 

Highly recommended, this book will be best appreciated by readers who know about story and tales, because page after page they will be visiting beloved moments from books and stories.  Get this into the hands of middle school kids who love to read, they will understand it, appreciate it, and let it guide them forward. 

Appropriate for a very wide range of ages.

Check out this online version of the book read by Neil Gaiman from HarperKids:

Reviewed from library copy.

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Thumbelina

| Tasha

Sylvia Long’s Thumbelina by Sylvia Long

Enter the world of Thumbelina as depicted by award-winning illustrator Sylvia Long.  This is a classic tale of the tiny Thumbelina and her birth to a woman desperate to have a child.  Thumbelina is beautiful and is stolen by a toad to marry her son.  She is kept on a lily pad until the wedding is prepared.  The fish in the pond chew her lily pad free.  She then seeks shelter from the winter cold with a field mouse who decides that she should wed her neighbor, a mole.  Thumbelina discovers a bird in the tunnels that is supposedly dead, but that she nurses back to health.  In the spring, the bird returns to save her from a marriage to the mole.  He carries her to a special place where winter never comes and where she discovers others just her size, including a handsome prince.

Long has not only beautifully illustrated this classic tale, she has also created a very readable version of the story.  It is cleanly written, making if useful for classrooms or families looking for a version to share.  Long’s illustrations are jewel toned and delicate.  The small details that fill the book help tell more of the story.  The closeups of dragonflies, the bird and fairies are entrancing.  She has created a tale filled with color and beautiful perspectives and compositions.

Highly recommended, this book with its small heroine and classic story will entrance those new to the story and become a favorite of those of us who already love the tale.  Appropriate for ages 4-8.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by 5 Minutes for Books.

Mirror Mirror

| Tasha

Mirror Mirror by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Josee Masse

This is a book of reversible verse.  Poems that read both up and down.  Doing so tells both sides of a fairy tale.  Little Red Riding Hood’s poem becomes that of the wolf when reversed.  Sleeping Beauty and the Prince both envy the other.  Beauty and the Beast find true love from two different directions.  And many more. 

Singer’s verse reads effortlessly but she offers such incredible skill that it is awe inspiring.  After reading the first poem aloud to my son, we proceeded to read the book to my older son and my husband.  All of us were amazed by the ability to write a poem that reads forwards and backwards and demonstrates another side of the story.  I think that is the most vital piece of the poems, that they don’t just work forward and back but that they illuminate the other side as well.  They are truly reversible verses. 

She also injects a lot of humor in the poems, a wry attitude, a sly grin, making them a delight to read.  Masse’s art has a traditional feel, done on wood, that really suits the fairy tale subjects.  Her art too offers humor and deftly demonstrates both sides of the verse.

Use this with older students to get them trying their own reversible poems.  It will also be a welcome addition to any poetry unit, fairy tale reading, or just simple for fun.  An awesome display of skill and humor, this book is simply amazing.  Appropriate for ages 5-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Dutton.

Also reviewed by 7 Imp.

Goldilocks

| Tasha

Goldilocks by Ruth Sanderson

As you can see from the cover image above, this is a very lush rendering of the classic fairy tale.  It follows along with the classic version until the very end when Goldilocks does not run away, instead she stays.  She remakes the beds and helps mend the chair she broke.  When the bears are still hungry, Goldilocks offers them the blueberries she had been picking.  After one scary moment when the bears salivate right at her, all is well and they share blueberry muffins and tea.

I know that may sound odd to change the ending of the story.  However, it really worked for me.  It changes the character of Goldilocks entirely into a girl who made a series of mistakes but takes responsibility.  Rather than a girl who makes mistakes and then runs from them without consequence.  However it is not the story here that makes this book such an enchanting read.  It is Sanderson’s art.  The art has a very European feel with classic German touches.  The tiny details have a lot of impact in the illustrations from Goldilocks’ lace hem to the hearts on the chairs and the ivy curling at the windows.  Sanderson has created an entire world here that is brought to life through the story.  The bears are rendered as naturally as bears wearing clothes can be.  They are less teddy bear and more wild, which also makes scenes in the book much more effective. 

We all have copies of Goldilocks on our shelves, but this one is worth making some space for.  It is neither too soft nor too hard.  It is just right.  Appropriate for ages 3-7.

Check out Ruth Sanderson’s Golden Wood Studio online.

Reviewed from library copy.

Not Last Night but the Night Before

| Tasha

 

Not Last Night but the Night Before by Colin McNaughton, illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark

A little boy runs to answer the door and there are three black cats there.  They rush in and knock him to the ground.  Then the man in the moon is at the door, he also rushes in.  And so one after the other fairy tale characters knock on the door and then shove, push, and knock the boy right down.  Finally when Punch, Judy, Baby and Crocodile knock on the door, they shake hands and greet him warmly.  And that is when readers and the little boy suddenly understand where everyone was headed and why. 

McNaughtons rhymes are bouncy and great fun to read aloud.  They invite you into the silliness and imagination at play here.  Clark’s illustrations are equally inviting as they depict beloved characters.  I particularly love the way the characters wait patiently and sweetly at the door but then proceed to barge in and down goes the boy again.  That little tension before each onslaught is delicious. 

This is ideal for reading aloud.  It will work best for children who know the characters, but those just learning about them will enjoy the energy and fun here too.  Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

The Goblin and the Empty Chair

| Tasha

 

The Goblin and the Empty Chair by Mem Fox, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon

Long ago, a goblin caught sight on himself in a reflection.  Frightened so much by what he saw, he vowed never to show his face again.  He spent many years alone.  But then he saw a farmer stop chopping wood, sigh and put his face in his hands.  The goblin went to work that night and though he tried not to be seen, the farmer saw him.  The following day on the same farm, the goblin saw a woman stop  gardening and put her face in her hands.  That night the goblin again worked on the farm and though he tried to be careful, the woman saw him.  The next day, a child on the farm put down her book and buried her face in her hands.  That night, the goblin soothed her and sat with her and though he was careful, the girl saw him.  The next morning, the family gathered for breakfast at a table with one chair that had been empty all winter.  They left the door open for the goblin to come in and fill that empty chair. 

This book told is an original fairy tale by one of the world’s top story tellers.  Mem Fox has created a sympathetic character in a goblin, which one would not expect.  Her skill at the fairy tale format with its repetition and spare style is masterful.  She has created a story that is open wide with opportunity.  There is space here for haunting, for fear, for spine tingles and for a happy ending.

Leo and Diane Dillon took that opportunity and created a goblin that is graceful and princely, with large ears and flowing green hair.  Readers never see the goblin’s face, making him more of a tragic hero than a monster.  There is a touch of the Beast in Beauty and the Beast here, speaking about the quality of the internal rather than external.

A highly successful collaboration between a master storyteller and master illustrators.  Appropriate for ages 4-8. 

You can listen to Mem Fox read the book here.

Reviewed from library copy.

Ice

| Tasha

Ice by Sarah Beth Durst

Cassie has been told the story of the Polar Bear King and her mother making a deal with him for years.  When she matured, she realized it was a fairy tale to explain her mother’s death.  But when she sees a very large polar bear out on the Arctic ice and he walks through solid ice, she has to admit that the story may be true.  It becomes even more real when Bear begins talking with her and then takes her away to his ice castle past the North Pole.  Cassie has grown up surrounded by ice and bears in her father’s Arctic research facility, but nothing has prepared her for the magic that suddenly surrounds her.  Cassie is caught in her own fairy tale, where she has to brave true love, harsh weather, protective prisons, and frightening trolls before she understands what love and family are really about.

I am a fan of Durst’s previous novels and their twists on fairy tales.  Nothing in those however, prepared me for the wonder and magic of Ice.  Durst has taken my favorite fairy tale of all time, “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” and transformed it into a modern novel.  There have been other retellings of this story, but Durst has reached new heights.  Bear is immediately appealing, large and protective, and readers fall for him long before Cassie does.  Their relationship with its tumult and trust issues rings so clear and true. 

Durst’s largest accomplishment in this novel is its heroine, Cassie.  Her inner voice carries this novel as she struggles not only with Bear and the magic, but with real forces that would keep her docile.  Her bravery is amazing, but never off-putting.  She is definitely a modern heroine caught in an old-fashioned fairy tale, which makes the book even more marvelous. 

Durst’s story takes readers from the Arctic to the tundra to the boreal forest and back again in the arms of the wind.  Through it all, she creates settings that are vivid and tangible.  Bear’s ice castle comes to life in minute details and crystalline beauty.  The Arctic wilderness is frightening, white and barren.  The boreal forest is spectacular in its diversity. 

Highly recommended, this novel is a magnificent swirl of romance, ice crystals and warm fur.  Perfect to curl up with in front of a roaring fire.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from copies received from publisher.  Copies will be placed in library collection.

Also reviewed by Bib-Laura-graphy and Laini Taylor.