Tag Archives: fairy tales

The Gingerbread Baby – Jan Brett

Jan Brett books are known for detailed illustrations. The Gingerbread Baby is no exception. Each page shows not only an illustration of what is happening, but a decorated border that looks like cookie decorations or cookie molds. Some of the pages have a side illustration that reveals what else is happening in the story. This is a different version of the classic story of the gingerbread man. On a cold day, a young boy named Matti decides to make gingerbread. He opens up a worn looking cookbook with old-fashioned writing on the cover to a page that says “Gingerbread Boy”. … Continue reading →

Pop Culture Potpourri: Rowling’s Golden Touch and Minnelli’s Gray Day

It appears everything that J.K. Rowling touches turns to gold. The author made history again today when a book of fairy tales she hand wrote and illustrated sold for nearly $4 million at auction. A London art agent came in with the winning bid and is now the proud owner of one of only seven copies of “The Tales of Beedle the Bard,” which is leather bound with silver mounts. For Rowling, whose Harry Potter books have sold nearly 400 million copies and been translated into 64 languages, the sale means “Christmas has come early.” But, not because she will … Continue reading →

The Goose Girl – Shannon Hale

In “The Goose Girl,” author Shannon Hale takes a fairy tale we’re all familiar with and gives it a new spin, heightening the adventure, adding in lots of romance, and making it all come alive. Princess Anidori from the land of Kildenree has a special talent – she can talk to swans. She also has a unique understanding with Falada, her horse – they can hear each other’s thoughts. The people in her land don’t like such things so she keeps her talents a secret, never imagining that someday, they’d come in handy. A marriage alliance has been proposed between … Continue reading →

A Children’s Play Space

One of the great things about modern homes is that they often factor in a space for children to play. Whether reminiscent of the old time nurseries, or of a more modern sociability, play spaces for children are a great idea for your home. What do I mean by a play space? Well, think of a playroom, where the room or the space is dedicated as a place for children to play in the home. Toys, creative craft items etc, are stored in this area, too. There are several ways to approach creating a play space. I have seen everything … Continue reading →

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs – by A. Wolf, as told to Jon Scieszka

I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that I love funny picture books, and that I’m a sucker for a spoof. “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs” is just hilarious and it’s my kind of book. As it turns out, the poor wolf has been maligned all these years. We have always perceived him to be the bad guy, the carnivore, the slobbery, vicious beast who only wants to mangle and destroy. But we’ve never heard the story from the wolf’s perspective – and now we have that unique chance. First of all, the wolf would like to … Continue reading →

Fairy Tales with a Spin – the Picture Books of David Gordon

While at the library the other day, I happened upon a darling series of children’s books written and illustrated by David Gordon. “The Three Little Rigs” is the story of three little rigs (amazing how that works) who live with their mother rig. She tells them that the time has come for them to go out and find their own garages. The first rig builds his garage out of wood, and then the big, bad wrecking ball comes along. Oh, no. The second rig built his garage out of stone. Along came the wrecking ball, and there went the garage. … Continue reading →

Beauty and the Beast: A Latter-day Tale (2007)

I like to support the LDS film industry as they strive to make family friendly and yet entertaining films. With the release of “Beauty and the Beast: A Latter-day Tale,” another installment has been added to the everlasting drama that seems to be the LDS film market. Summer Naomi Smart stars as Belle, a young woman who lives with her father, little sister, and little brother. Her mother passed away a few years previously, forcing her to return home from college to help care for the family. Her father has struggled to find work and at last, has landed a … Continue reading →

The Gift from Afar

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Prepare for a literary information dump. During my recent illness I wasn’t able to write clearly, but I did a lot of reading to distract myself—so you’ll be seeing a lot of book reviews in the next week or two. The Gift from Afar is an adoption fairy tale written by a Korean-American mother. She writes in the introduction that all children love the story of how they came to be, but notes that often adopted children don’t have stories of their birth. She uses the old folk theme of storks delivering babies to weave a story of a special … Continue reading →

Happily N’ever After (2007)

I have looked forward to seeing this movie ever since it was first advertised. I love spoofs on fairy tales. I must say, though, that while this one was moderately cute, it wasn’t as cute as I’d hoped. Fairy Tale Land is the place where all the fairy tale characters live. It is run by The Wizard (George Carlin) whose job it is to keep the balance between good and evil. He is assisted by Munk (Wallace Shawn) and Mambo (Andy Dick) When it’s time for the Wizard to take a golf vacation in Scotland, he leaves the two in … Continue reading →

Rigoletto (1993)

A musical fantasy in the perfect tradition of a modern fairy tale, “Rigoletto” is the story of a man named Ribaldi (Joseph Paur) who moves into the town of Castle Gate. The townspeople are suspicious of him for two reasons –first, he’s able to purchase the largest mansion in town, even though it’s the Depression and money is tight. Second, he’s rumored to be a monster. He never leaves his house and it’s said that he’s horribly disfigured. When eviction notices start to flood the town, it’s suspected that Ribaldi is behind it. He does own the mortgage on the … Continue reading →