Thursday’s Tale: Beauty and the Goblin King

by Carol1 Comment
Beauty and the Goblin King is definitely a re-telling for grown-ups. Our beauty, Sabela, goes the Goblin King's castle by choice. Her family needs the gold that the Goblin King gives to girls willing to spend the night with him. Okay, her family definitely pressures her to do it, but she always been a bit fascinated by the stories and this gives her an excuse to allow herself to go. This is erotica. There are several steamy scenes, but you do get to actually like Sabela and Nyar, the King, and believe in their relationship. She's brave and curious and open-minded. He's caring, under his rough exterior, and sexy. It's only 150-ish pages so we don't get quite as much character and world-building as we might in a longer story, but I think I prefer my erotic romances on the shorter side. I was rooting for their happily-ever-after, which they do get. As a re-telling it borrows mostly from Disney's version, complete with animate...
Read More

Thursday’s Tale: Brave Red, Smart Frog

by Carol1 Comment
I truly enjoyed these lovingly retold fairy tales. Jenkins has taken some favorite, familiar tales and while not adding anything new, has made them into charming tales. We have Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, the Frog Prince, and Diamonds and Toads among others. While she keeps the traditional plots and characters. she gives some extra depth, like why the Frog Prince loved the princes or how Hansel and Gretel's father could have let them be left in the woods. She asks why the step-mother was so cruel and how Red could have been tricked by the wolf. I also love how the cold, frosty wood figures into the tales. The tales have touches of humor and amusing dialogue, especially in Three Wishes and the Frog Prince. I appreciate how the tales are connected in ways that make the book fit together well, rather than just a random collection. For example, the same huntsman who doesn't kill...
Read More

Thursday’s Tale: Disney Manga: Tangled

by Carol2 Comments
The story is the same as the Tangled movie from 2010. It's a re-imagining of Rapunzel, but the only thing it really has in common with the original fairy tale is the girl with long hair kept in a tower. The princess, Rapunzel, is stolen from her crib by Mother Gothel, because her can magically heal people.  Mother Gothel hides Rapunzel in the tower, forbidding her to ever leave it, keeping the precious hair safe. While Gothel is away getting a present for Rapunzel’s 18th birthday, Flynn Ryder ends up in the tower as he's on the run from the palace guards. Rapunzel recognizes her chance and convinces Ryder, with the help of a frying pan, to take her to see the annual lights festival. Adventure, danger, love and the requisite happy ever after ending all follow. The story is what it is, it's Tangled re-done as a manga. I thought the manga art was well-done and I'm sure middle schoolers would...
Read More

Thursday’s Tale: Cinderella and the Furry Slippers by Davide Cali

by Carol2 Comments
This is a modern twist on the classic Cinderella fairy tale. Cinderella, per usual, spends her days cleaning and doing her stepmother's and sisters' hair. She sees the prince in a magazine and dreams coming to save her. When she finds out he's having a ball, she calls up a fairy godmother and makes an appointment. That's when it all starts to go awry. The godmother is not what she expects - and neither are the clothes. Even the ball is disappointing, and the prince - well, let's just say he was more attractive in the magazine. So she makes her own happy ending. I like the girl-power feel of this one, and the illustrations are bright and funny. I think this would make a good book to read aloud to any little girl, reinforcing that a girl can be whatever she wants to. And that pictures in magazines aren't always realistic. Thursday's Tales is a weekly event here at Carol's Notebook....
Read More

Thursday’s Tale: The Little Mermaid by Metaphrog

by Carol2 Comments
I'm always a little worried about re-workings of The Little Mermaid. So many of us have seen the Disney version and expect the happy ending for the prince and the mermaid. Metaphrog isn't giving us a happy ending, they are sticking closer to the original by Hans Christian Andersen. Our Little Mermaid does fall in love with a human prince and does make a deal with a witch, but the witch is not scary. The Witch is helping and warning our mermaid, but the mermaid still wants to have legs and the witch obliges at the cost of the mermaid's voice. The mermaid does get to live in the prince's palace, but the prince marries someone else. In the end, the little mermaid jumps into the sea, dissolves into foam and will live forever in the water. It's a sad story really. Metaphrog does cut out the more religious aspects of the original, which should make it appeal to a larger audience....
Read More

Thursday’s Tale: Grimm’s Fairy Tales

by Carol3 Comments
Today I wanted to spotlight an audiobook coming out next week. As you know, I love the Grimms' tales and this looks like a fabulous collection. I'll have to pick this one up next week when it comes out. Just look at that list of stories and the all-star narrators. I can't imagine it being anything less than wonderful. I think I've read most of the stories, but I have to imagine hearing them told will enhance them for me. There are also a couple that I don't think I've gotten around to yet. It's suggested age is 10 and up and if it's true that theses are the earlier versions of the tales, they can be a bit bloody and less happy than the stories we are used to. Maybe I should just go ahead and pre-order it. Thursday's Tales is a weekly event here at Carol's Notebook. Fairy tales, folktales, tall tales, even re-tellings, I love them all. Feel free to join in....
Read More