Through a Glass Darkly

IN A GLASS GRIMMLY by Adam Gidwitz. Dutton, September 2012.

get ready for some more twists on familiar tales and tropes and archetypes in Gidwitz' follow up to A TALE DARK AND GRIMM. Jack (of beanstalk and other fame) and Jill (who went up a hill) enter into a series of adventures that include characters from other Grimm tales and a few by Hans Christian Andersen and other authors of folk tales. What makes this interweaving of stories work well is that even if readers do not know the original tales they can still enjoy the adventures and perhaps pick up some of their literary heritage along the way. Tie this one to other retellings and perhaps construct a ladder or PARCC model that include these titles:

THE STINKY CHEESE MAN AND OTHER FAIRLY STUPID TALES
THE THREE PIGS
A TALE DARK AND GRIMM
CLOAKED, BEASTLY
THE ANNOTATED MOTHER GOOSE
OTHER GOOSE

Or go in a different direction and include books with interrupting narrators (INTERRUPTING CHICKEN) or tales with motifs and archetypes.

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whatever!

WHATEVER: FAIREST OF ALL by Sarah Mlynoski (Scholastic, May 2012) is more than a retelling or variant of Snow White. When Jonah takes Abby into the basement of their new house because the mirror down there is hissing, Abby is not prepared for what happens next. Jonah knocks on the mirror (three times, mind you) and the two are transported into the story of Snow White. They intervene and prevent the wicked queen from poisoning Snow. Unfortunately, as Abby soon realizes, they have also kept Snow from meeting her prince. As Abby and Jonah attempt to set things aright, the complications keep on coming. If readers have not encountered the original tale (especially the Grimm version), they will want to know more. Point them to some of the other variations as well including SNOW WHITE IN NEW YORK and this wonderful document with many others: http://www.scribd.com/doc/39593355/Snow-White-Variations-on-a-Princess <200>

Beauty in the eye of the beholder

Jan Brett's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Putnam 2012) is a classic retelling of the fairy tale. The story of how Beauty comes to spend a year living with the beast should be familiar to many young readers from the Disney version. However, Brett sticks close to the more classic tale. Her illustrations are detailed and lush in color. The text, therefore, remains confined to the bottom of each page with pictures capturing most of the space. This would be a good choice for reading aloud to children. <180>





DAY BY DAY by Susan Gal (Knopf 2012) opens with three pigs making their way out into the world. The build a house brick by brick. They pant a garden row by row and make friends neighbor by neighbor. Check out the illustrations for little gems such as the titles of the books the pigs read at night (Charlotte's Web and The Three Little Pigs!). <181>

weaving through storyland

Though the temperature was near 90 this morning, I think I was suffereing from frostbite and hypothermia as I wandered with Hazel through the frozen woods of BREADCRUMBS (Walden Pond Press, October 2011) in search of her lost friend Jack. Hazel and Jack have been friends for years. They have dived into a wading pool filled with ice to beat summer heat; they have jousted with plastic swords. In short, they always are together. They help one another through the dark times. But now, something has changed. Jack gets something in his eye one day on the playground, and before long he wants nothing to do with Hazel. As she is trying to cope with this heart-shattering event, Jack simply disappears. Hazel heads off into the woods off the sledding hill, the last place Jack was seen. It will be a journey that will test her in many ways. <390>

Here is a book that is firmly set in the real world but that wanders into the land of fairy tales easily without skipping a beat. This retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's THE SNOW QUEEN also includes references to texts as far ranging as WHEN YOU REACH ME, and CORALINE with mention of Narnia and Dictionopolis. Other fairy tales leave traces (THE RED SHOES is memorable) as well. What sets this apart, though, is the lyricism of the language. Here is a small example from Chapter Nine: "Trees stretched up into the darkening sky like yearning giants, their thick branches contorted and mean from reaching out for something they could never grasp" (p. 109). The possible ladder rungs for this might include:

CLOAKED and BEASTLY by Flinn
THE GIRL WHO CIRCUMNAVIGATED FAIRYLAND IN A SHIP OF HER OWN MAKING by Valente
NOAH BARLEYWATER RUNS AWAY by Boyne
RECKLESS by Funke
BEAST, CRAZY JACK, SPINNERS by Donna Jo Napoli