Customer Reviews

A Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

I purchased this book without even realizing that it was geared toward kids (Ages 8-12). I am a new fan to Datlow/Windling and had to add this to my collection. Am I glad that I did! This book takes some of the classic fairy tales and gives them a delightful twist. As I said, it is geared towards kids, so it doesn't have the adult twist that the other books do, but it is a great read for all ages.

The book is a collection of 13 retold fairy tales written by different authors. Some of the tales are modernized, and others are twisted. I liked "The Months of Manhattan" and "Hansels Eyes". The others were too strange, a better title would have been 'retold into fantasy tales'. I like the original fairy tales better. I think alot of fairy tales have an underlying meaning and these don't. If you like modern day fairy tales you would like the book, otherwise I don't recommend it.

Although this book is marketed towards young adults, it is really for all ages. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling are best known for their many editorial collaborations on collections of short stories for adults. This collection, however, is acceptable to a wider and younger audience.

My favorite tales in the collection are by Katherine Vaz, Delia Sherman, and Patricia McKillip. All of the tales are wonderful and will expand readers' thinking about fairy tales and their presence in the modern world. A few of the tales are romantic and one by Garth Nix is gruesome. There are stories to fit all tastes. Each one is a jewel and my only regret is that more stories are not included. This collection is all too short.

The stories in the book are: The Months of Manhattan / Delia Sherman -- Cinder Elephant / Jane Yolen -- Instructions / Neil Gaiman -- Mrs. Big / Michael Cadnum -- Falada / Nancy Farmer -- A Wolf at the door / Tanith Lee -- Ali Baba and the Forty Aliens / Janeen Webb -- Swans / Kelly Link -- The Kingdom of Melting Glances / Katherine Vaz -- Hansel's Eyes / Garth Nix -- Becoming Charise / Kathe Koja -- The Seven Stage a Comeback / Gregory Maguire -- The Twelve Dancing Princesses / Patricia A. McKillip

Young adult readers who enjoy this book may also like "Tales from the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird" by Vivian Vande Velde, "Teller of Tales" by William Brooke and "Truly Grimm Tales" by Priscilla Galloway.

The thirteen re-visioned fairy tales from some of contemporary fantasy's finest authors here are all welcomed and vital additions to the ever-growing body of revamped fairy literature, much of which has been edited by Datlow and Windling. While all the tales divert and amuse, of particular interest were Neil Gaiman's poem "Instructions," which provides essential edification in how to deport oneself when caught in a fairy tale; Gregory Maguire's (he of WICKED and CONFESSIONS OF AN UGLY STEPSISTER fame --- so puckery droll!) intriguing poem "The Seven Stage a Comeback" on what the Seven Dwarves do after Snow's prince comes; and Kathe Koje's take on the Ugly Duckling, "Becoming Charisse. This collection, aimed by the publisher at younger audiences, has much to offer readers of all ages and is essential to any collection of fairy tales, old, new, or both.

A Wolf At The Door and Other Retold Fariy Tales, was so funny. My favorite part was when the wolf thought he was supposed to be human. I really enjoyed this book and would recomend it to any reader, of any age.

The authors of all the stories in the book wanted to see what would happen if things ended out differently for characters, such as Cinderella, instead of being the beautiful, thin, girl she was in the original, the author wanted to make her fat and see how the story would go. There was no problem with that, a twist in a fairy tale makes it more interesting once in a while. But most of the stories I read in this book had questionable endings and no lesson learned. The back cover made the book sound very interesting, but I ended up feeling that the whole reason that the stories were changed were because people wanted the fairy tales to be different and they were tired of the same old thing. They loved fairy tales, but it seemed as if they didn't think it was fair that Cinderella was pretty and that Jack got the harp from the giant's house.They modernized the story, put in some weird magic and then made the story end twisted. I think that fairy tales are meant to make you feel good. In this book, most of the endings were a bit sad and bizarre. I think I'll stick to the originals, thank you.

Cinderella is plus-sized, Jack's giant's wife tells the bigger side of the story, Hansel and Gretel stumble upon video game store, and Neil Gaiman provides instructions for surviving in a fairy tale: many of the selections from A Wolf at the Door are transparent fairy tale retellings with a single twist or a new setting, be it an ice age or aliens. They may catch the eye, but most of are empty and gimmicky with immature writing styles. There are some exceptions, and Gaiman's poem in particular is a gem, but on the whole A Wolf at the Door is a waste of time. I don't recommend it.

Many of the selections in this anthology get two things wrong: retold fairy tales and young adult literature. By fleshing out the tale with realistic characters and detail, and/or by taking a new and meaningful twist on an old story, retold fairy tales can be magical, thoughtful, altogether wonderful to read--but they often must have that something new, or compelling, or meaningful, in order to justify rereading a familiar story. But in A Wolf at the Door, the retellings are sometimes as bare-bones as the original tales and often take gimmicky twists on the stories which are either hollow or more attention-catching than meaningful. It's not enough to stick aliens into the story of Ali Baba, or to insist that "Moral: If you love a waist, you waste a love." These retellings may catch the eye, but few of them leave lasting impressions. To compound the problem, many feel not only like they're written for twelve year olds, but by twelve year olds. Most YA literature has an easy-reading writing style which makes it accessible to young audiences, but writers needn't talk down to their audience to achieve that accessability. Here, the writing styles exaccerabates bare-bones writing and gimicky twists, so most of these selections are cutesy and immature.

Not all of the stories fall victims of these weaknesses: Gaiman's "Instructions" is a brilliant and magical meta-fairy tale and my favorite in the collection, Cadnum's "Mrs. Big" feels empty but nonetheless has a clever voice and fresh take on the subject matter, Vaz's "The Kingdom of Melting Glances" is based on Portuguese legends which may be new for many readers, and Koja's "Becoming Charise" is an empowering story for black sheep despite hammering home its meaning and fairy tale aspects. As this collection is such a swift read, there's no harm in picking it up to read the better selections. But on the whole, A Wolf at the Door is a waste of time. There's potential in the collection's premise, but the selections are lackluster and some (like Sherman's clichéd "The Months of Manhattan" and Webb's gimmicky "Ali Baba and the Forty Aliens") are downright bad. Spend your time on other, better retellings. I don't recommend A Wolf at the Door.

Classic fairy tales are retold from another point of view. Embodiments of the months grant Liz good luck. Cinderella is a plump birdwatcher who isn't particularly interested in marrying a prince. Jack and the Beanstalk is retold from the point of view of the giants, who don't appreciate a human stealing from them. The goose girl's horse tells her story, which ends up happier for the horse than the original.

A wolf comes to stay at Glasina's house, and she soon comes to suspect that it is really a human in wolf's form. Ali Baba is tired of his nickname, but then his life starts to mirror the legend when he follows aliens to an abandoned mine with a secret door.

Emma's stepmother turned her brothers into swans for being too loud. Emma thinks she can probably turn them back, but she isn't sure whether she likes them better as swans or not. Rosa's parents loved each other so much, they dissolved together into water. Rosa's sisters are resentful, but Rosa is happy for them.

Hansel and Gretel are lured in by a witch to a shop full of video games and fun things. Charise feels like an ugly duckling, smart and friendless in school. Is the offer for her to attend a prestigious private school her opportunity to finally turn into a swan?

After Snow White is gone, the seven dwarves are lost, unsure of how to continue with their lives. Val, a soldier, answers a king's call to help him figure out what is going on with his daughters, who sleep all day and seem to party all night.

I liked the creative twists on these fairy tales, and the updates that made them seem a bit more realistic.