10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific!, October 15, 2000
By A Customer
As a big fan of the Datlow/Windling fairy tale volumes for adult readers ("Snow White, Blood Red," etc.), I was thrilled to see a volume I could give to my young niece and nephew, so that they too could discover the pleasure of re-told fairy tales, and see that there is so much more to these tales than the Disney versions for very young children. This is a great collection, as one would expect from Datlow & Windling. My own favorite pieces were Neil Gaiman's "Instructions" and Patricia McKillip's lyrical version of The 12 Dancing Princesses. And Kathe Koja's version of the Ugly Duckling ("Becoming Charise") made me cry. My 9-year-old niece votes for "Falada" by Nancy Farmer because it was so funny, and for Kelly Link's "Swans," because she liked the heroine very much. My ten-year-old nephew liked Katherine Vaz's "The Kingdom of Melting Glances" best because he liked the princesses with bacon up their sleeves! If you want to get kids interested in reading or to give them something magical and fun when they've run out of Harry Potter books, then I can highly recommend this collection. And as an adult reader, I enjoyed it too.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Retold Fairy Tales Strike Again! :), April 23, 2005
This collection of stories includes:
The Months of Manhatten by Delia Sherman
Done in the tradition of the good sister being rewarded over the bad one this story is set in New York. The good sister finds a painting of twelve people who question her about the seasons and such. She responds favorably to all the months which gains her good luck. When her stepsister tries, she tells the months that she doesn't like any of the months in New York. She is cursed with bad luck. Eventually she turns repentant and makes the sisters grow closer.
Cinder Elephant by Jane Yolen
Elanor is not a skinny girl like her two stepsisters but she is good and kind. Also she knows a lot about sports. Through the help of her bluebird friends, Elanor is able to attend the ball where the prince and she (grammar?) discover they have a lot in common. The moral at the end of story appears as such: "Moral: If you love a waist, you waste a love." (pg. 28) Very well put indeed!
Instructions by Neil Gaiman
This bears reading over which I haven't done. It's a list of instructions on what to do and not do when in a fairy tale. Such advice includes: "You may pick strawberries in December's frost," and "Know that diamonds and roses are as uncomfortable when they tumble from one's lips as toads and frogs:..." (pgs. 31-32) Very nice to read.
Mrs. Big: "Jack and the Beanstalk" Retold by Michael Cadnum
Poor Mrs. Big! Her husband fell off the clouds where their home was built chasing after Jack because he thought Jack had hurt his wife! Mrs. Big wasn't too thrilled with the house in the clouds even though they bought it; you could step off at the wrong place and that's exactly what poor Mr. Big did! But Mrs. Big gets her revenge!
Falada: The Goose Girl's Horse
Falada is a fairy horse sent out in the real world as an unjust punishment. Although his mission is to deliver a princess safely to another kingdom he seems to fail. Sure, she arrives in the kingdom but a wicked goblin has taken her place as princess. Little does Falada know that another horse also has a task to fufill!
A Wolf at the Door by Tanith Lee
Glasina spent time mostly with her mother and father. Still there were the lions around (who had learned to say Hallo, wot ya got? ) and the scary wolves. Glasina was content until one day she met a wolf that could speak more than most animals. She led him back to the house where he proceeded to stay with the father and daughter (the mother was out) and cause disorder. He was a very untidy house guest. Finally the father realized that perhaps he was a human in disguise. But would Glasina have to kiss him and marry him? She wanted to go to college! Was there any other way of having the wolf turn back into a human? Clever read.
Ali Baba and the Forty Aliens by Janeen Webb
There were lots of abandoned mines where Al lived and he would wander among them. One day he saw one that wasn't quite right. Soon he saw aliens using it! When he learned how to enter it he discovered some gold. Even though he was not greedy his brother was...
Swans by Kelly Link
Emma's stepmother is highly unusual. She can't stand noise and when she can't take it any more she turns the offenders to swans. That's how Emma becomes surrounded by swans in her school. Emma is safe from becoming a swan as she won't talk ever since her mother died. But what should she do to change them all back into humans?
The Kingdom of Melting Glance by Katherine Vaz
Perhaps the most confusing story out of the collection, this story is based on a Portueguese story. Rosa feels all alone in the world, with only a bird as a friend. Pehaps, like her parents, she and the bird can merge into the world and forget their present lives.
Hansel's Eyes by Garth Nix
Most definitely the most gruesome of the stories. Hansel and Gretal are left in an abandoned part of a city by their parents. Distracted by a video game store they go in only to have Hansel entranced in a game and a witch giving Gretal the option to become her apprentice or also die and Hansel may eventually. The witch cannot see and has a "stichling" do it for her. I think she gets her strength from murdering children. In the end, Gretal has more powers than she started out with and Hansel only has one of his original eyes.
Becoming Charise by Kathe Koja
Charise is a very smart girl but doesn't have the opportunities that some have. She doesn't seem to fit in any social group either. She must learn to accept her situation and that no matter where she is she can make it.
The Seven Stage a Comeback by Gregory Maguire
A story about what happens after Snow White leaves from the perspective of the dwarves. They decide to go after her and bring her back by force but when they see something they change their minds.
The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Patricia A. McKillip
A traditional retelling of the story except that the older princess plays a more prominent role. Also the princesses are under a curse making them dance with the undead. OK, perhaps it's not so traditional afterall.
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