Customer Reviews

Once upon a Fairy Tale: Four Favorite Stories

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3 star:		(2)
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A really creative and enjoyable book to read. The pictures are truly lovely and the stories are sweet and funny and well written with fun new twists and turns that respect and honor the original fairy tales. My kids really get a kick out of listening to the CD in the car (the stars performances are great.) I'm giving it to many friends for Christmas because not only is it a beautiful book, sales support Starbright, a great charity that helps sick kids in hospitals. I have Starbright's "Emperor's New Clothes" too, and I think this book is even better. It seems a little more age-appropriate, and the format with four short stories makes for better bedtime story reading. Hope they do another book next year!

Question: What do you get when you mix 21 famous celebrities with 21 award winning illustrators. Answer: The Starbright Foundation's, Once Upon A Fairy Tale. Come read and listen to the likes of Barbra Streisand, Robin Williams, Oprah, General Norman Schwarzkopf, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kelsey Grammer, Martha Steward, and Whoopi Goldberg as they spin an old fairy tale in a new and inventive way. Each of the four stories, The Frog Prince, Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks And The Three Bears, and Rumplestiltskin is fresh, innovative, and told in hip, kid speak language from their characters' perspectives. Artists Giselle Potter, Chris Raschka, David Shannon, J Otto Seibold, Jerry Pinkney, and many more renowned and celebrated illustrators, provide a veritable feast for the eyes as they enhance each story with color and style. Perfect for youngsters of all ages, Once Upon A Fairy Tale is a delightful and hilarious book, complete with CD, the whole family can share and enjoy together. It's great fun to read, and even more fun to listen to!

I must admit that when I got this book I was getting it more for me than for my 5 yr old daughter. I have seen what the Starbright Foundation can do and wanted to give my support. I was worried that it wouldn't hold my daughter's attention. Although she loves books she can be very picky. But as soon as we started to listen to the stories we both could not put the book away! The stories have been enhanced and you get to know what the characters in the stories are like and what they are thinking. Of course, my daughter's personal favorite is Wolf von Big Baden brilliantly performed by Robin Williams. Although the stories are retold in present day jargon it does not diminish the character of the fairy tales. Highly recommended for book lovers of any age!!

A delightful collaboration of storytelling and artistry is presented in this collection of four classic fairy-tales (Little Red Riding Hood, The Frog Prince, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and Rumplestiltskin), with a twist. The characters (animate or inanimate) tell the story each on a single page with an accompanying illustration by one of twenty-one award winning illustrators-including Anita Lobel, Jery Pinkney, Chris Raschka, and David Shannon. Little Red Riding Hood is told by the following characters: Iris Brown-Little Red Riding Hood's mother, Wolf von Big Baden-"The Big Bad Wolf", Woodcutter Gunderson-"The Woodcutter", Alberta Louise Johnson-Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother, and Hannah Milner Primrose Red Brown-Little Red Riding Hood.

The feature full-length CD brings the characters to life with retellings by such artists as Glenn Close, Oprah Winfrey, Kelsey Grammer, and Nicholas Cage. The CD is intended for listening enjoyment, not for read-alongs, for the text and the narration do not always match.

A charming example of multi-media entertainment for children, `Once Upon a Fairy Tale' brings together four, new takes on classic fairytales, wonderful illustrations created by contemporary artists, and warm, familiar audio provided by some of the best known television, movie, and media personalities in Western Civilization. All of the efforts were combined to benefit the Startbright Foundation, and nicely done at that.

The four fairytales included in `Once Upon a Fairy Tale' are Little Red Riding Hood, The Frog Prince, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and Rumplstilskin. The new spin on these timeless children's stories, however, is the perspective. Each character tells the story from his or her own, unique perspective. For example, in Little Red Riding Hood, "Iris Brown," "a loving mother who needs her daughter out of the house" begins the story as "Red" leaves on her journey to Grandma's house. The story is then picked up by "Wolf von Big Baden," the stranger who Red encounters on her way, continued by "Woodcutter Gunderson," the big-hearted woodsman, "Alberta Louise Johnson," Red's grandmother, and finally completed by Red herself, "Hannah Milner Primrose Red Brown." The stories are a brilliant combination of the traditional moral fairytales and new and amusing viewpoints.

Illustrators who contributed include the likes of cartoonist Berkeley Breathed and Caldecott Medal winner Chris Van Allsberg, to name a few. The voices included on the audio CD read like a Hollywood and Broadway telephone book. Among the contributors are Nick Cage, Glenn Close, Minnie Driver, Calista Flockhart, Whoopi Goldberg, Kelsey Grammar, Hugh Grant, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kevin Kline, Lisa Kudrow, Mike Myers, Gyneth Paltrow, Martha Stewart, Barbra Streisand, Oprah Winfrey, Bruce Willis, and Robin Williams, who provides the distinctive and hilarious voice of Wolf von Big Baden. Frankly, all of the characters are both witty and hilarious.

Any aunt or uncle, grandmother or grandfather, other relative, or family friend who gives this book to a special young person will be rewarded many times over for the thought, both from the child and the parent whose child is so fortunate to have such a thoughtful and generous benefactor. `Once Upon a Fairy Tale' will be read and played, put on the shelf temporarily, and then read and played again. That will be all the thanks needed for any gift giver.

It's not easy to find a book that you will love reading over and over - or hearing read on CD - and that kids of all ages will never tire of either. This is the book. Each tale is a different take on a well-known fairy tale, and each is narrated by celebrities to which parents will enjoy listening. I can sit and read it to my 3-1/2 year old and my 7-year old at the same time, and my 7-year-old puts it on to listen to Robin Williams, Glenn Close, Barbra Streisand and Kelsey Grammer, among others, narrate.

To make it even better, proceeds from the sale of the book benefit the Starbright Foundation which works to empower seriously ill children and teens. How can you go wrong?

Over twenty well-known celebrities and an equally powerful group of illustrators step into the shoes of well-known fairy tale characters to recreate the stories from a different perspective. An audio cd accompanies Once Upon A Fairy Tale, adding performances by the celebrities to these whimsical retellings which take different approaches, such as how it feels to be kissed by a princess, and the perspective of Papa Bear who feels called on to defend his home. Good reading skills required.

The book is calld Once apon a Fairey Tale. It is so funny and it has a C.D. that comes with it! The fameus poeple read there parts on it just like a movie. I love Pheebee from FRIENDS best, she is little red riting hood. And the bad wolf is Robin William. He is so silly! It is my favorit book and my grammy gave it to me. She sed the money she payd for the book helps little children like me, but they are very sick and need doctors. Doctors cost a lot of money becus when I had my tonsils tooken out I told my mommmy I would pay for it and she sed that I am to little to be in det! I think that is a really great thing to help little children so they are not sick or in det. It makes me happy!

Very captivating...love the creative casting. Our favorite game is to guess the actors while driving in the car with the kids.

The condition of the book was fine. HOWEVER, it was missing the CD. This mattered to me because I wanted to give the book to a child who is learning to read. The description did not indicate that anything from the book was missing. I was able to work the problem out with the distributor with little effort. They get an A+ for their quick response in resolving it.