Customer Reviews

Twelve Impossible Things Before Breakfast: Stories

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Rather like a "Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears" for a younger audience, this book is for anyone who enjoys a good fractured faerytale or stories from the fantasy realm. It has everything, from Yolen's continuation of Alice in Wonderland to the sad story of an Appalachian girl whose mother has returned to life as a vampire. While stories like "The Bridge's Complaint", a twist on the old Billy Goats Gruff story (told by an intellectual bridge) and "Lost Girls," a feminist version of Peter Pan, gave me a good laugh, stories like "Mama Gone," the vampire story, and "Bolundeers" were both sad and heartwarming. "Sea Dragon of Fife" was a tale of legendary proportions and "Wilding" added a bit of sci-fi to the bunch. You won't put the book down until you've read ALL of the stories--many times. And it's by Jane Yolen, it can't be BAD! Get it and be sure to read "Harlyn's Fairy" and "Winter's King," my personal favourites.

Yolen is a literary genius, with a beautiful ability and talent to weave stories, either new or traditional in nature. Most of these short stories were gems. "Lost Girls" is a fractured version of Peter Pan, in which Darla, a lover of the Barrie story, finds the real Never-Never Land isn't all fun and games. "The Winter King" and "The Babysitter" also stand out, the former a fairy tale of a boy born to be a cold king; the latter an almost urban legend of a babysitter and things that go bump in the night.

Defently one of the best books I've ever read. It contains 12 different stories that are happy, sad, and some were downright scary.

I read this book and found it impossible not to love. The stories may be odd, but none are boring. And the ones that have a twist to them are very impressive. This book keeps you reading. And I recommend this to any age.

This book contains a series of short fantasy stories about young adults in very strange situations. A new version of Alice needs to find someone to defend her from the Jabberwock, a nightmare creature in Wonderland. Mandy Jane's mother has awakened from death as a vampire, who begins to terrorize their town. Harlyn sees fairies but her aunt worries she is just crazy, like her mother.

A teenaged girl, in the process of moving into her grandmother's house, picks up a strange egg that hatches something incredible. Robert goes after the sea monster that killed his two brothers. Zena, a girl of the future, goes "wilding" in Central Park, which seems like such fun until she comes across a dead body.

Hilary thought the ritual she went through while babysitting the twins was silly, but they insisted it kept her safe from what haunts their house. Could that really be true? Brancy thinks the memory of her dead father could help to ward off the danger in their compost pile.

The Billy Goats Gruff are shown to be the villains they really are. Aliens have landed in Brandon's town, and he thinks he can figure out how to get rid of them.

A boy is born dead, but his father brings him back to life. As he grows, he is only comfortable in wintertime. Darla ends up in Never-Never Land where she finds out that, for a girl, living there isn't much fun at all.

These stories are all very strange, and some are really well told. They take fairy tales, well known children's stories and urban legends, and tweak them into something more interesting.

Short stories a great for teachers to read in down time or parents as bedtime stories. A few stories can be a little scary for some kids.

Wonderful book, highly reccommend!

THESE STORY ARE FUNNY THE WAY THE AUTHOR HAS TWISTED THEM. THE ARE GOOD FOR A ACTIVE IMAGINATION!

Jane Yolen presents twelve very fine fantasy stories aimed at juvenile readers. In "Tough Alice," our Wonderland heroine must rely on her wits in order to get the better of the fearsome Jabberwocky. "Mama Gone" tells an eerie tale of a young girl who seeks to put her vampire mother's soul to rest. A family finds new beginnings on a relative's farm after a phoenix's fiery rebirth destroys their apartment building in "Phoenix Farm." Now that violence is part of New York City's past, its denizens go "Wilding" to satisfy their cravings for danger in this futuristic tale of the same title. "The Babysitter" is a creepy story about a haunted house, a babysitter, and one Halloween night. The final entry is a brilliant twist on Peter Pan, the Nebula-winning novella "Lost Girls," where Darla finds herself a prisoner of the Lost Boys in a Neverland where Captain Hook, an advocate of women's rights, is the least of her worries. A lovely collection of short tales to be enjoyed by young and old alike. Recommended for Ages 9-12.

Many of these stories are disturbingly morbid and unpleasant. If you are a parent, please look it over before letting your child read it.