goldilocks honeybears traditional transformations

books:

The Ramayana: A Modern Retelling of the Great Indian Epic

20 reviews
Ramesh Menon, Valmiki, 2003

A great English translation of an Indian Classic
Gods, Demons and Heroes, locked in titanic battle in the mythical days of yore, and performing great feats of strength and/or self sacrifice ... what's not to love about that ? The Ramayana is one of the great literary epics of Ancient India, retold in this version in full-length and easy-to-read English prose form. It's the story of the life and trials of Rama, a mortal incarnation (avatar) ...

The Goose Girl

118 reviews
Shannon Hale

Bloomsbury USA Children's Books, 2005

The Best Book Ever Writen
The Goose Girl is an amazing novel, maybe even the best I've ever read. It is not at all like a normal fairy tale where the beautiful princess sits and waits for her handsome prince charming to rescue her, she succeeds because she has skin white as snow and lips red as blood, or her fairy godmother appears, shoves her in a pumpkin, and sends to the ball. The novel is great because Ani learns how ...

The Singer: A Classic Retelling of Cosmic Conflict

9 reviews
Calvin Miller

InterVarsity Press, 2001

Awesome!
This is one of those books I read over and over again. I have read it probably 20 times since my first reading. Calvin Miller puts biblical stories into narrative poems that are so well written they force you to turn the page again and again. This book is the first in the Singer Trilogy, followed by The Song and The Finale. It is a poetic retelling of three biblical books: The Singer parallels ...

Cinder Edna

21 reviews
Ellen Jackson

HarperTrophy, 1998

Attitude, it's all attitude!
This is the story of two neighbors, both overworked sisters to mean, wicked, old step-sisters. Cinderella is the pretty one who sits in the cinders and daydreams after she finishes her chores. Next door Cinder Edna, the spunky one but not so pretty, sings while she works. She doesn't like sitting in cinders--gets her clothes sooty--so she takes on extra chores from the neighbors who pay her, ...

Los tres pequeños jabalíes / The Three Little Javelinas

17 reviews
Luna Rising Editors

Luna Rising, 1996

A retelling of the "Three Little Pigs" story with a tumbleweed twist!
Who hasn't heard of or read the classic story for children, The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf? In this retelling, the pigs are javelinas, and the wolf is the trickster, the coyote. Instead of houses made of straw, sticks, and bricks, the houses are made of tumbleweed, cactus ribs, and adobe bricks. The ending won't surprise you. There's a reason coyotes howl like they mean it. ...

The Perilous Gard

69 reviews
Elizabeth Marie Pope, Richard J Cuffari

Houghton Mifflin, 2001

My intro to the Tam Lin legend
One of the things I like about this book is that it manages to retain an archaic feeling without sounding fake (you know, the type of dialogue that sounds like a bunch of college students roleplaying). Pope's choice of using modern language for the dialogue doesn't spoil the setting at all, whereas trying to force readers to jump back and forth between Elizabethan dialogue and modern narration ...

Ella Enchanted

1076 reviews
Gail Carson Levine

HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks, 2004

Cinderella Who? by Sara Martinez
Many young girls dream of having a fairy tale life just like the ones that appear in Disney movies such as Cinderella, but what happens when these girls grow into young ladies and expect a little more than your usual fairy tale? In her novel Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine adds a whole new twist to the familiar story of Cinderella. With the use of point of view, characterizations and themes, ...

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!

146 reviews
Jon Scieszka

Viking Juvenile, 1989

A Fresh and Funny Perspective
"Everybody knows the story of the Three Little Pigs. Or at least they think they do. But I'll let you in on a little secret. Nobody knows the real story, because nobody has ever heard my side of the story." This is what Alexander T. Wolf (but you can call him "Al") tells to pseudo-biographer Jon Scieszka at the start of this tale of the "real story" behind what happened between Al and that ...

Crazy Jack

15 reviews
Donna Jo Napoli

Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 1999

Classic fairytale- I think not!
Napoli is a master at her work, so that every time I pick up one of her books, I am astounded by its beauty and characterization, its personality and reverence for the human soul. The Brothers Grimm will tell you what happened to Jack when he climbed up the beanstalk, but Donna Jo Napoli will actually take you there. I marvel at her well-placed words, her ingenious ideas, her deeper meanings. ...

The Seven Chinese Sisters

9 reviews
Kathy Tucker

Albert Whitman & Company, 2003

My daughter loves this book!
We first came across this book at the library. My then 5 year old daughter always talked about it after we returned it, so we decided to buy it for her 6th birthday. She loves pretending to be made into soup for the dragon!It's a fun book with wonderful illustrations and a fun story.

Leola and the honeybears: An African-American retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears

8 reviews
Melodye Rosales

Scholastic, 2000

Down home story-telling
This book is a wonderful addition to your home library whether you have a youngster or not. My 3-year-old daughter actually received this book as a present from her nana and made her read it about 5 times that same evening. It is a delightful re-telling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears that you don't mind reading over and over again (as most children insist that you do). The southern flavor ...

Azal: The Retelling of Eve

6 reviews
Josephine Stewart

Mercury Publishing (NC), 1999

A Powerful Tale
Once I started reading this book I couldn't put it down. A lot of the imagery has an almost visionary feel to it that sort of stays with you (as indicated in the previous review). The story and the esoteric material are woven together to form a tale that is very potent. Highly recommended!

Manana Iguana

7 reviews
Ann Whitford Paul

Holiday House, 2004

Loved it!
My son loves this book. He has several twists on "The Little Red Hen" and this one is one of his favorites. There isn't too much spanish to make the book too hard or lose his interest, but just enough to broaden his vocabulary.

Red Riding Hood

8 reviews

Dial, 1987

Little Red
Robert Barfield Book Review Red Riding Hood by James Marshal In this version of Little Red Riding Hood Little Red disobeyed her mom. Her mom says, "Stay on the path". But she did not stay on the path. She found woof the wolf and he told her to pick flowers so he could get to Grandmas house before little Red Riding Hood got there the wolf got there and ate the Grandma. When Little ...

Twice Upon A Time #1: Rapunzel, the One With All The Hair (Twice Upon a Time)

7 reviews
Wendy Mass

Scholastic Paperbacks, 2006

The Brothers Grimm
Wendy Mass, as well as Gail Carson Levine, do something that the Brothers Grimm forgot: they give all of the characters names and porpuses. In the Brothers Grimm tales, we have no idea what the other character's (most often the prince) life was, which would have added better understanding to the story. I highly recommend the works of both Wendy Mass and Gail Carson Levine, for giving the second ...

Black as Night: A Fairy Tale Retold

8 reviews
Regina Doman

Bethlehem Books, 2004

Updated Fairy Tale with Good Moral Value
At my daughter's request, I am reading Black as Night: A Fairy Tale Retold. This is a great book for young teenagers as it follows the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The outline of the story is a familiar one for most kids, and they will like that the author grabs your attention at the beginning and holds it throughout the story. The main characters are upright teens with a sense ...

Fairy Tales: Traditional Stories Retold for Gay Men

7 reviews
Peter Cashorali

HarperOne, 1997

A gay adventure awaits you!
The quiet power of these tales is as mystifying and timless as the originals from which they are spun. By recasting and reshaping both favorite and obscure fairy tales from our youth with gay themes, Peter Cashorali has given gay men the myths and legends on which empires are made. Queit, pensive, reflective, moral, funny, entertaining, sexy, thoughtful and just plain fun are the words I'd use ...

Dusty Locks and the Three Bears

8 reviews
Susan Lowell

Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 2001

Incredible!
I am an elementary art teacher and I checked out this book from my school library to read to my 3rd grade classes before they started work on fairy tale puppets. We all loved it! So I brought it home for my husband and my infant son. My 10 month old sat through the book with out a peep -except for giggles- over and over again. So we bought it for my husband for father's day. I am ordering ...

Goldie and the Three Bears

7 reviews

HarperCollins, 2003

Toddler Approved!
My two year old daughter LOVES this book! I checked it out from the library and it was a sad day when we had to return it. The story is so sweet. Much more friendly than the original. It has a wonderful ending. I highly recommend this to all parents of little ones.

Transformations

7 reviews
Anne Sexton

Mariner Books, 2001

A Dark and Lovely Exploration of Fairy Tales
I have Anne Sexton's complete works, and this book rises above the rest. The fairy tale framework compels more structure and discipline from a poet accustomed to rambling (but often brilliant) confessional observation. It is, in my estimation, her finest work. Her take on "Snow White" refuses to establish heroines or villains. The girl is a lovely virgin, "cheeks as fragile as cigarette ...

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