Showing posts with label fairy tales. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fairy tales. Show all posts
Nov 18, 2018
Sep 1, 2018
Mar 6, 2018
Jul 4, 2017
Jan 7, 2017
Apr 1, 2016
Feb 1, 2016
Apr 1, 2015
Into the woods (DVD)
Summary: "From the director of Chicago and the producer of Wicked comes a modern twist on the beloved fairy tales you thought you knew. Meryl Streep stars in this epic musical saga about daring to venture Into The Woods. Iconic characters, such as Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel, find their fates intertwined with a humble baker and his wife, whose longing to have a child sends them on a quest to reverse a witch’s (Streep) curse. With an all-star cast, this spellbinding adventure is everything you could ever wish for! Also starring: Johnny Depp, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick and Chris Pine." - (Alert)
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Dec 1, 2014
Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale
Book of a Thousand Days - Hale, ShannonSummary: Fifteen-year-old Dashti, after sacrificing her own freedom to follow her sixteen-year-old mistress, the Lady Saren, into exile, brings Saren safely to the lands of the man they both love where they are forced to hide their true identities as they vie for his attention
Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* The author of the Newbery Honor Book Princess Academy (2005) offers another captivating fantasy filled with romance, magic, and strong female characters. The story, based on a little-known fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm, takes place in an imagined ancient Central Asia. Orphaned Dashti is a hardworking, pragmatic girl, who grew up in the open, windswept steppes. She finds work in the city with a young noblewoman, Lady Saren. Then Lady Saren refuses an advantageous marriage, and as punishment, she and Dashti are sentenced to seven years in a sealed tower. A tiny window is the tower's only connection to the outside world, and it's there that Saren's two suitors, the terrifying Khasar and the handsome Tegus, come calling. Written in diary form in Dashti's voice, the gripping tale follows the two young women through their imprisonment and their escape into a grim world of warring societies. Readers will quickly embrace Dashti, an invincible storybook heroine with a healer's touch, who accomplishes battlefield heroics while nurturing a powerful, secret love for a lord. Fans of Gail Carson Levin's Fairest (2006) will embrace this similar mix of exotic, fully realized setting; thrilling, enchanted adventure; and heart-melting romance
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The Bloody Chamber - Angela Carter
The Bloody Chamber - Carter, AngelaSummary: Combining the erotic and the sinister, the lyrical and the grisly, and the comic and the demonic, these twelve stories are startling transformations of such classic children's tales as Bluebeard's Castle and Beauty and the Beast.
Los Angeles Review of Books
What if Little Red Riding Hood seduced the wolf? What if one of Bluebeard’s wives turned the tables on her murderous husband, and lived to tell the tale? What if Beauty’s father lost her to the Beast at cards? The English writer Angela Carter (1940-1992) answered these questions in The Bloody Chamber (1979), a story collection that changed literary fiction for good. Tilting the fairy tale to refract new light from its facets of sex, wonder, and grief has become a welcome strategy for writers in the last decade, from Tin House’s “Fantastic Women” issue to Kate Bernheimer’s anthology My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me to the work of Karen Russell, Aimee Bender, and Kelly Link, and gems like Lorrie Moore’s “The Juniper Tree.” But Angela Carter marked this path for all of us. Rooted in literature, folklore, and history — alive to their enchantments and general bloodiness — she was able to metabolize them into a new kind of fruit, borne on a profuse and fascinating tree.
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Nov 1, 2014
The Castle Behind Thorns - Merrie Haskell
The Castle Behind Thorns - Haskell, MerrieSummary: Awakening in the ruin of a castle with no memory of how he got there, Sand discovers that he is trapped inside by a thorny bramble before encountering the castle's lost heir, Perrotte, and embarking on an effort to gain their freedom.
Booklist Reviews
Sand, a 13-year-old boy who dreams of becoming a blacksmith, finds himself trapped in a magical castle with no means of escape. Destroyed in an earthquake 20 years earlier and surrounded by an impenetrable forest of deadly thorns, the Sundered Castle has always been the stuff of legend. As Sand repairs the damage around him piece by piece, the castle slowly returns to life, and when long-dead royal daughter Perrotte appears in the courtyard, Sand can no longer deny that there is powerful magic behind the castle's stories. Haskell has created a rich fantasy set in medieval Brittany that reads almost like a parable. Sand and Perrotte, each harboring deep secrets that explain their imprisonment, forge a tentative alliance that blossoms into true friendship as they work toward escape. Themes of self-reliance, forgiveness, and personal integrity figure prominently but are developed naturally through the intricate plot and personal growth of the characters. The straightforward narration belies the introspective core of this appealing story.
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Mar 1, 2014
Far far away - Tom McNeal
Summary: "When Jeremy Johnson Johnson's strange ability to speak to the ghost of Jacob Grimm draws the interest of his classmate Ginger Boltinghouse, the two find themselves at the center of a series of disappearances in their hometown"-- Provided by publisher.
Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* So it begins: What follows is the strange and fateful tale of a boy, a girl, and a ghost. Ghostly Jacob Grimm, of the famous Brothers, narrates this tale of Jeremy and Ginger and their near-tragic encounter with town baker Sten Blix, whose long-held grudges figure in the disappearance of several village children. Unappreciated as a youngster, Blix has elevated revenge to a sweet art, and he holds Jeremy, Ginger, and an additional victim, Frank Bailey, in a hidden dungeon under the bakery, while Jacob desperately tries to tell parents and friends of the predicament. If he fails, the three may become grist in the baker's next batch of Prince Cakes. Reminiscent of Hansel and Gretel and rife with allusions to the Brothers Grimm tales, this is a masterful story of outcasts, the power of faith, and the triumph of good over evil. McNeal's deft touch extends to the characterizations, where the ritual speech of traditional tales (Listen, if you will) establishes Jacob's phantasmagoric presence amid the modernist American West. There are moments of horror (as there were in the Brothers Grimm original tales), but they are accomplished through the power of suggestion. Details aplenty about Jacob and his famous sibling make this a fiction connector to both fairy tales and Grimm biographies, too. Copyright 2013 Booklist Reviews.
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Cress - Marissa Meyer
Summary: Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they're plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth. Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company.
Horn Book Magazine Reviews
Meyer's fairy tale/sci-fi hybrid series (Cinder, rev. 1/12; Scarlet, rev. 3/13) continues with a "Rapunzel"-inspired story. Cress, taken from her Lunar parents as a baby, is forced to live alone on a satellite, spying on the Earthens for Queen Levana. But her real loyalty lies with cyborg Cinder's plan to protect Earth by dethroning Levana. After a rescue attempt of Cress goes awry, Cinder and an injured Wolf head to Africa in search of Dr. Erland; Scarlet becomes Levana's prisoner on Luna; and Cress and a temporarily blinded Thorne survive a crash landing on Earth and subsequent desert trek. Eventually everyone but Scarlet reunites, and they return to New Beijing to stop Emperor Kai's wedding to Levana. This multilayered, action-packed page-turner is sure to please series fans. Cress is a sympathetic protagonist, socially awkward due to her isolated youth but highly skilled in technology, and her teenage crush on Thorne evolves into a believable romance. And balanced nicely with Cress's story is Cinder's continuing journey -- she accepts her new identity as Princess Selene, the long-lost Lunar heir, but must find the inner strength she'll need in order to lead a revolution in the upcoming final installment, Winter. cynthia k. ritte Copyright 2014 Horn Book Magazine.
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Nov 1, 2012
Between the lines - Jodi Picoult
Summary: Told in their separate voices, sixteen-year-old Prince Oliver, who wants to break free of his fairy tale existence, and fifteen-year-old Delilah, a loner obsessed with Prince Oliver and the book in which he exists, work together to seek his freedom.
Booklist Reviews
Quirky loner Delilah discovers a fairy tale in her high-school library and develops a raging crush on its handsome prince. She is startled but delighted to discover that he can actually see her and speak to her. In alternating chapters Oliver and Delilah relate their adventures in liberating Oliver from the two-dimensional page into Delilah's three-dimensional world. Picoult's teenage daughter pitched the idea to her mother, and together the two have created a compulsively readable charmer. The teen dialogue and interior monologues feel authentic, while Picoult's practiced hand balances humor with larger issues such as abandonment, hope, and existential quandaries related to fate and human nature. Both silhouette and pencil drawings abound; characters climb in and around the text to excellent effect. Younger readers and their parents will appreciate the gentle, wholesome romance, with nary a shred of paranormal action. The tender, positive tone and effective pacing that builds to a satisfying finish will inspire readers to pass the book to a friend—or reread it themselves. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Picoult's brand-name presence on the cover will draw readers for her first foray into YA lit, and a mother-daughter tour will help spread the word. Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews.
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Sep 1, 2012
Some kind of fairy tale - Graham Joyce
Summary: Twenty years ago, sixteen-year-old Tara Martin disappeared from a small town in the heart of England. Now, her sudden return and the mind-bending tale of where she's been will challenge our very perception of the truth. For twenty years after Tara Martin disappeared, her parents and her brother, Peter, lived in denial of the grim fact that she was gone for good. Then suddenly on Christmas Day, the doorbell rings at her parents' home, and there, dishevelled and slightly peculiar looking, Tara stands. It's a miracle, but alarm bells are ringing for Peter. Tara's story just does not add up. And, incredibly, she barely looks a day older than when she vanished.
Booklist Reviews
Tara is just 15 when she disappears from the woods near her home. Twenty years later, she reappears on her parents' doorstep looking strangely the same as when she left. Her parents welcome her but are now uneasy around her, and her brother is angry, especially when he hears the explanation she offers, which is more fairy tale than abduction story. Only her boyfriend, who had been suspected of her murder all those years ago, is willing to accept her return with little hesitation. But although Tara hasn't really aged, her 20-year absence has been hard on those she cares about, and her return stirs emotions not all of them are prepared to face. It may even place some of them in danger. Reality and fairy tale are beautifully interwoven in this contemplative story about relationships, love, and dreams. In a unique blend of thriller and fantasy, Joyce creates a delightful page-turner that his fans and newcomers alike will find hard to put down. Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews.
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Jul 1, 2011
Mermaid: a twist on the classic tale - Carolyn Turgeon
Summary: Princess Margrethe has been hidden away while her kingdom is at war. One gloomy, windswept morning, as she stands in a convent garden overlooking the icy sea, she witnesses a miracle: a glittering mermaid emerging from the waves, a nearly drowned man in her arms. By the time Margrethe reaches the shore, the mermaid has disappeared in to the sea. As Margrethe nurses the handsome stranger back to health, she learns that not only is he a prince, he is also the son of her father's greatest rival. Sure that the mermaid brought this man to her for a reason, Margrethe devises a plan to bring peace to her kingdom. Meanwhile, the mermaid princess Lenia longs to return to the human man she carried to safety. She is willing to trade her home, her voice, and even her health for legs and a chance to win his heart.--From back cover.
Booklist Reviews
Turgeon refashions Hans Christian Andersen's beloved classic, The Little Mermaid, into something altogether darker and more foreboding. When two women from two decidedly different worlds fall for the same prince, what else can ensue but heartache and misery? After rescuing a human from the sea, mermaid Princess Lenia falls hard for Prince Christopher, even agreeing to give up her beautiful voice and to endure the constant pain caused by her new legs in order to pursue him on dry land. Meanwhile, Princess Margrethe has also set her sights on the handsome prince in hopes of uniting their two warring kingdoms. With Lenia's life on the line and war looming on the horizon, the prince's choice is bound to have catastrophic consequences. More robust than a fractured fairy tale, Turgeon's brooding retelling gives voice to both women, fleshing out an essentially tragic tale of destiny and desire. Not exactly a cozy bedtime story, but guaranteed to keep you guessing who—if anyone—will live happily ever after. Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews.
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Aug 3, 2010
Fables. Book one: the deluxe edition - Bill Willingham
Fables. Book one: the deluxe edition - Willingham, Bill
Summary: "Imagine that all the characters from the world's most beloved storybooks were real--real, and living among us, with all their powers intact. How would they cope with life in our mundane, un-magical reality?"--Cover, p. [4].
LJ Express Reviews
Verdict Excellent artwork by Lan Medina, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, and Craig Hamilton and well-thought-out stories will entice even those who usually don't read graphic novels. Longtime fans of the series will enjoy the supplemental material. Essential for graphic novel collections.-Justin Hoenke, Cape May Cty. Lib., NJ Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
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The stolen child - Keith Donohue
The stolen child - Keith Donohue
Summary: Stolen by changelings from his family, Henry Day is given the name Aniday by the ageless and magical beings, who replace him with another child who takes his place with his parents, a young boy who possesses an extraordinary gift of music.
Library Journal
Fairy tales often reach into dark places, and this one is no exception. Inspired by a W.B. Yeats poem, it is a modern retelling of the changeling myth, in which a child is stolen away by fairies who leave one of their own in its place. In this case, seven-year-old Henry Day is the changeling; the real Henry is now called Aniday and lives in the woods with a group of other stolen-away children. We follow Henry and Aniday in alternating chapters as Henry grows up and Aniday, forever seven, does not. Henry tries to fit into his new life, but traces of his previous existence keep revealing themselves, e.g., he has a musical talent that the original Henry never had. Meanwhile, Aniday struggles to hold on to his humanity even as he forgets who he was. Despite the fantastic element, Donohue anchors the book in a mid-century America that feels specific and real. A haunting, unusual first novel, The Stolen Child is recommended for all public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 12/05.]-Jenne Bergstrom, San Diego Cty. Lib. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information
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