Thursday’s Tale: The Sleeper and the Spindle

by Carol2 Comments
Today I've got a fairy tale re-telling to share. It is a gorgeous book, by the way, perfect for any of the fairy tale lovers on your gift list for Christmas. This is a short story and feels like the fairy tale it is. The characters are all nameless, but we know the Queen is Snow White after the kiss from the prince. There are three (magic number) dwarves, a quest, magic, but I like the female twist. The one prince in the story is conspicuously absent, although the dwarves are loyal and trustworthy and brave. The Queen learns about the sleeping princess and that the curse if spreading, so she heads out to deal with it. She puts on her armor takes her sword and tells her prince they'll have to postpone the wedding. Doesn't take him with her, you notice; she's a little ambivalent about getting married. It's a darker twist on the traditional tale and there's a bit of a twist at...
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Thursday’s Tale: Cinderella (2015)

by Carol5 Comments
Cinderella is a lovely movie. Cinderella is told by her dying mother to have courage and be kind, and that's the motto she lives by, even after her dad dies and her step-mother and step-sisters are just horrible to her. At least her reason for hanging around makes some sense. It's pretty faithful to the 1950s cartoon version, which on the one hand is nice. It's a sweet story with a happy ending, but I would have liked to see a little something different. I guess I've become used to re-tellings that twist the stories a bit. Lily James is a nice choice for Cinderella. She's not a tough girl, but she's strong, she keeps going no matter what life throws at her and tries to be positive. Yes, she talks to animals. And I loved her first meeting with the prince. They were both sweet and kind and smiling. Cate Blanchett is perfect as the evil step-mother. She's nasty, but at...
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Thursday’s Tale: Into the Woods (2014)

by Carol4 Comments
We all know the danger of seeing a movie after reading the book - the movie rarely lives up to its promise. While Into the Woods is based on a musical, not a book, we did see the musical a couple of years ago and it's impossible not to compare the two. But the musical is based on fairy tales, which comes back to being based on books - all a little confusing really. But the plot, while involving lots of folks pulls it all together well. I liked the movie, even if it didn't quite live up to my expectations when I heard people saying run, don't walk, to see it. It's enjoyable, full of great characters and stories, ones we're familiar with but whose stories don't turn out the way they traditionally do. I think, for me, the live performance is a little better, but the movie is definitely worth seeing. A couple of things: I found the Little Red Riding Hood...
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Thursday’s Tale: The Flying Witch by Jane Yolen

by Carol4 Comments
The Flying Witch is not a traditional Baba Yaga story, but it's still entertaining. The witch is after a tasty, plump child to eat, but the girl she finds is brave and clever. She has "two good feet, a fine sense of direction, two strong arms, and a clever mind." She finds a way to escape from the witch with - get this- her father's help. Dad is pretty smart himself, puts two and two together, and finds his daughter. I love that we have a strong female lead in the little girl and a dad who is not the stereotypical disinterested/absent fairy tale father. He cares and risks his safety to go after her. Yolen's Baba Yaga follows tradition. She flies using a mortar and pestle, is wrinkled and ugly and has an iron nose. The book doesn't talk down to its young audience, it explains and shows what the mortar and pestle look like instead of just letting her...
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