Customer Reviews

Yummy: Eight Favorite Fairy Tales

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In the age of sugar coated everything, this book is a truly refreshing read! The stories in this book are some of the traditional, witty tales that we adults grew up with--where unsuspecting characters are eaten, gruesome villains are decapitated, and make-believe monsters try to do you in. I am a mom of 3 boys, aged 4 years, 2 years and 8 months. My 2 oldest children want to read this entire book during just one sitting EVERYDAY (the 4 year old carries his "fairy tale book" around everywhere)--this is definitely a household favorite! The storytelling in Yummy is straightforward, extremely vibrant and really exciting for young readers. I love reading this book with over the top drama for extra (and equally dramatic) laughs and gasps. I'm so happy that I am able to pass down these fairy tales and make some pretty great memories for our family!

I think the lesson of the day here is that I haven't been giving Lucy Cousins enough credit. While you may not be immediately familiar with her name, you've probably run into Cousins' most famous creation, Maisy, at some point in your travels. Maisy is a mouse. Maisy is cute. Maisy is beloved by the 0-4 set. You haven't lived until you've worked a reference desk where desperate two-year-olds come up to you like knee high zombies demanding, in their too high voices, you entire section of Maisy-related literature. Now because Maisy is so cute and non-threatening I was not initially impressed when I first heard about Yummy. Ms. Cousins wants to try her hand at fairy tales? Fine. It'll probably be something along the lines of that Mary Engelbreit's Nursery Tales collection. An early child introduction to fairy tales but without any of the original violent aspects. A watered down version, I'm sure. Well slap me upside the head and call me Charlie because I could not have been more wrong. Yummy is, if anything, the veritable antithesis to Engelbreit. With a good-natured, downright jovial tone of voice, Lucy Cousins takes old-fashioned stories and makes them as gruesome and funny as she is able.

In this collection of fairy tales, Lucy Cousins has identified tales where eating is either enabled or denied depending on the worthiness of the hunger. Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Enormous Turnip, Henny Penny, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Little Red Hen, The Three Little Pigs, and The Musicians of Bremen are all covered. With her characteristic style and upbeat humor, Cousins retells each and every tale in as few words as possible, never leaving out any pertinent details. The result is a gorgeous collection big enough to be seen during storytime, but not so unwieldy that its readers will need any new arm muscles.

Each story has been broken down into its most essential parts. Words are big and bold, but never so simple that they don't tell the full story. At 11.6" x 10.6" the book is comparable to a picture book in terms of size, but stands at about 121 pages rather than the standard 32. It's the pictures, however, that really reinforce its child-friendly status. As with her Maisy books, Cousins employs thick black lines for all the images, and within those lines are bright, eye-popping colors. Yellows and blues and reds and greens, these primary colors get a workout under Cousins' hand. She also has an interesting technique where she'll write something in thick ink, blowing it up so that the words are much larger and messier than the neat typewritten text below. The gulp! of granny going down the wolf's gullet is so big that a kid across a crowded storytime room could see it without difficulty.

At no point does Cousins give in to the modern adult desire to sugarcoat these stories either. I can't tell you how frustrating I find it when a new version of The Little Red Hen will end with the hen sharing her bread with the no good lazy dog, cat, and pig. After reading through these tales once or twice it occurred to me that Cousins has also carefully avoided any and all princess tales. This isn't too surprising. There's a certain understanding amongst authors that for the youngest set stories of love and romance will be better appreciated when the kids are a bit older. It also means that when I get a squeamish six-year-old who wants pretty pretty princess tales, I won't be alarming that same kid by handing them a book that also contains a decapitation or two. Mind you, the child might end up with the original stories associated with tales like Snow White or Cinderella (red hot shoes, anyone?) and that will be a whole new bucket of worms to contend with.

Lucy Cousins is British, but I did not expect these tales to vary much from their American incarnations. And yet a couple changes did make their way in just the same. "Chicken Little" was the most obvious. I was with her for Henny Penny, Turkey Lurkey, and Cocky Locky. Then she broke out the weirdo names. Ducky Duddles? Okay, that's a little odd but I can go for it. Goosey Poosey? Hm. Normally that's Goosey Loosey, but again, no biggie. But under no circumstances can I acquiesce to Foxy Woxy. Here in the States we call him Foxy Loxy. Whence the "L" I wonder? Which came first? And why does Goldilocks say that one bowl of porridge is too hot while the other is "too salty"? The book doesn't exactly credit the author's source material, so we are left to wonder about these cultural gaps.

Oh. I will have parents in my library complain. It is inevitable. There is a certain breed of parent that wishes that all fairy tale collections for kids could be penned by a certain Mr. Disney. They eschew the violence of the original stories and give their children good clean wholesome stories that don't dip into any of this icky head-chopping, bird-eating nonsense. Even the James Marshall versions of these tales turn them off. And I can see their point, I guess. Perhaps they think that if they read such stories to their kids, their kids will think that violence is okay. But people, let us remember that these stories weren't written just yesterday. Kids have been told the chopped up wolf version of Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs for hundreds of years. And anyway, its Cousins' style that renders even the scariest tale kid-friendly. Sure the wolf may sometimes have red outlines to his teeth, but he's essentially a comedic character. Both the tone and the look of the book will make sure that kids see these as amusing rather than disturbing stories. After all, what does the text say after the wolf falls in a pot of the pig's boiling water? "Bye-bye, Wolf." It's just so merry, it's hard not to find funny.

Going back to the choice of tales, Yummy makes a lot of sense when you consider that hunger is one feeling all kids can relate to. Love they sort of get, though hopefully they have enough of it that they never feel the lack. Sleep they get too, but how interesting is a sleep-based fairy tale (droopy spindle prone princesses aside)? But hunger? There's not a child alive who hasn't felt the need to feed. So collecting stories where characters want to eat is instantaneously recognizable to the small fry. Half the battle is won right there. Clever of Cousins to realize it.

Here's the deal. If you are, or know, a parent who wants red-cheeked cherubs waltzing merrily through an innocent candyland of neutered fairy tales for the young, the aforementioned Mary Engelbreit Nursery Tales is the book for you. If, on the other hand, you want a funny introductory book to the real stories in all their raucous, scary, eclectic glory, Yummy is your best bet. Lucy Cousins has gone out of her way to give us an early reader collection of tales that will amuse parents as much, if not more, than kids. It's not for everyone, so be warned of that now. But for those of you that appreciate it, your kids will be thoroughly, almost wrongly amused, even as you, the adult, cower away from it in fear.

"Yummy" is a large, over-sized book that contains Lucy Cousins bright, sunny artwork. There are 8 stories in this book:

Little Red Riding Hood

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

The Enormous Turnip

Henny Penny

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

The Little Red Hen

The Three Little Pigs

The Musicians of Bremen

All of these are no doubt infinitely familiar, with the exception of the "Giant Turnip" and the "The Musicians of Bremen" -- so I'll refresh your memory. In "The Giant Turnip" a farmer plants seeds and a huge turnip grows (no surprise huh :). The fun comes in when everybody has to pull and pull -- the farmer, his wife, the children, the dog, cat, and even the mouse! -- to harvest the giant veg.

"The Musicians of Bremen" is about a group of animals who outwit a group of robbers. But it doesn't start out that way. At first, it's just a Donkey heading to the city to be a musician. He runs across a dog, and then a cat and rooster, all of them unloved and unwanted. At his invitation they join the Donkey and head to Bremen to be musicians. When they arrive they find that they are very hungry indeed. Which is when they peek into the robber's home. They see food and they see that the place is occupied by bad-guys. Well up they climb on each others backs. They proceed to make a raucous noise and then crash through the door, scaring the robbers so badly that they run away.

The story ends with one robber sneaking back in the dead of night. One by one he alarms the animals and they defend themselves. The cat scratches him, for example, and the dog bites him. And since it's dark, the robber hasn't a clue that it's four animals. He thinks it's a witch which is what he runs and tells his criminal friends. He exclaims, "There's a witch in the house who scratched my face .... And there's a man with a knife who stabbed me in the leg. And there's a monster in the yard who beat me with a club <donkey kicking him>. And there's a judge up above who shouted, "I'll lock you up, you rascal, you! <rooster crowing>". So obviously the robbers never returned.

Talking Points:::

The artwork is kid friendly as you can see from the cover. The drawings are simply and the pages colorful. And the fact that the book is over-sized makes for a nice read aloud experience.

As for the stories... therein lies the rub. Now please note before I talk about this that it my description has nothing to do with my own opinions. However, I have written enough reviews that I know how parents can differ about the content in these old tales. Some like them best when they are like the originals, and some like them more modern and less scary and violent.

Which is not to say that there is graphic violence in this book. Of course there isn't. BUT the stories take more of the old fashion approach. For example, in Little Red Riding Hood, the woodsman chops off the wolf's head and there is a picture of wolf-sans-head on one page, with the head still on it's flying trajectory on the next page. That may or may not bother you. I just provide information.

Also, I know that some parents might be bothered by the last story. After all, the animals drove the men from their home. It wasn't the animals' home, now was it? My own children wouldn't think anything of this confiscation, but I know some of my friends that would be disturbed by this action. (So you are forewarned)

All and all, a cute book that would make a nice gift. The paper is thick and glossy, and the book appears well bound.

You might also want to consider the following: Classic Fairy Tales or The Golden Book of Fairy Tales (Golden Classics). These have received VERY high ratings by numerous parents.

Pam T~

mom and reviewer at BooksForKids-reviews

(review #1037)

It is hard to beat some of the other excellent, amusing and spot-on reviews of this book but I just had to profess my own love for this book. I have a 2-year-old daughter and a 3.5-year-old son and they both love this book. My daughter seems to be particularly attracted to the language and will often "read" the book herself, reciting favorite passages from memory. She stood at the window the other day and said: "I'm Henny Penny. The sky is falling!" and laughed. My son is fascinated with the wolves and clearly enjoys that the book is mildly scary and that characters do things that are "not so nice." The illustrations of "Yummy" are so much fun and the classic fairy tale language is so rhythmic and soothing that I have no problems reading this book over and over again. Lucy Cousins clearly knows her audience and has picked fairy tales that are accessible to very young children. (It is actually very hard to find fairy tales that work for children under four. Byron Barton has written a couple of other good ones.) There are no curses, spells, promises of marriage or similarly complex themes. Where necessary the author has condensed the stories a bit, and she has done so perfectly without compromising the atmosphere or message of the original tales. For example, in the original "Musicians of Bremen" the animals explain in some detail why they are unhappy and want to run away. (The dog was abused by his master etc.) In "Yummy," each animal simply says: "Nobody loves me!"

This is a book that I think every child should own!

I got this book after reading the reviews, and I was not disappointed. The illustrations are great: large and bright. I read this book to my 2.5 year old twins and it holds their attention.

Some reviews said that the illustrations were "graphic". I disagree - I thought that the illustrations were funny,amusing and very child-friendly. The one in Red Riding Hood where grandma's legs are sticking out of the wolf's mouth (singled out by one reviewer as scary) made my girls giggle and they were not bothered by the "violence" some reviewers alleged was present in the stories one bit.

I was very happy with the size of the book: large, bigger than A4 format. That makes it easy to read to multiple children at the same time at bedtime. The book cover is sturdy and can withstand "toddler love". Pages are easy to turn for the little hands as well.

I realize that, in our society, classic stories (by Brothers Grimm,Perro, etc) are perceived as violent, which is true for some. But the stories in this book are not: evil is punished, and good prevails, there is no blood, gore, or anything that is disturbing to little kids. Yes, the wolf eats the grandma and Red Riding Hood, but they magically appear in the end unscathed.

This is the first book illustrated by Lucy Cousins I've purchased, and I will likely get more.

I purchased this for my 3-year old and 6-year old and they both love it. My 6-year old has a short attention span, so the shorter versions of the tales are great for her. My kids know the "full" stories and we have other books with longer versions. My 3-year old quotes from this book. Yes, there are a few "violent" pictures and the 2 of the 3 little pigs get eaten, etc. My kids weren't upset at all about those pictures. They were very interested in them because they don't usually see pictures like that. The pictures are drawn as kids would probably imagine the events. I do change the reading of the 3 little pigs so the 2 don't get eaten. My kids are used to the version where they run to the other pigs' homes. Overall this is a fun book that is also fun for adults to read to their kids.

I like the bold illustrations but especially like having a collection of well-known fairy tales mixed with some of the lesser known ones.

As I a teacher I enjoy using a large book with visuals that an entire class can enjoy. Not only did I purchase the book for my students,

but the real intent is to share with my grandchildren. This book is definitely a keeper!

As this book has some questionable art, my 3 year old daughter loves it. We started out borrowing this from the library. After the seventh checkout I chose to buy it for her. She carries it around everywhere reciting Little Red Ridinghood's story.

A librarian helped us find this fairy tale compilation via our library database. The presentation of the cover and the content description pages at the beginning of the book sparked our interest to borrow the book to bring home. My 4 year old son and I set out to read the book together last night, right before bed.

I read the first story, Little Red Riding Hood, to my son, and I was in shock - the hunter "chopped the wolf open" and the wolf's head flew onto another page in the illustration.

The next story, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, had the third billy goat say "I'll bash you to bits" just before he "charged at the troll, butting him so hard that he flew up in the air and then down into the middle of the river. The troll was never seen again..." I stopped mid-sentence and then paraphrased this as I read to my little audience.

By the following story, however, I told my son "The End." In shock, I continued to read Henny Penny, where a fox eats all Henny Penny's friends, one by one, each with a "Crunch! Munch!."

One of the most mild stories in this book is The Little Red Hen, where none of the hen's friends help her make bread. When she finishes baking, she asks who will help her eat the bread. All of her friends say "I will," but she says "Oh, no, you won't" and then "she ate it all up herself."

In The Three Little Pigs, the end of the story shows an illustration of a wolf being cooked in a big pot hanging over open flames. A smiling pig sits on a big, comfy chair, and watches the wolf die with a delighted smile.

The final story, The Musicians of Bremen, has a group of ignorant animals that go on an adventure to tell their king a lie. In route, the animals come across "four robbers eating their dinner" in the robbers' own house. The animals scare the men off, and one man describes that "there's a witch in the house who scratched my face,...and there's a man with a knife who stabbed me in the leg. And there's a monster in the yard who beat me with a club." The animals then proceed to live happily ever after in the house they stole from these men, and never make it to see their king.

This book is a rude awakening that children's books are not all wholesome, and even the children's genre of materials must be previewed. However, if you are interested in encouraging theivery, selfishness, and murder, read your child the book "Yummy: Eight Favorite Fairy Tales" by Lucy Cousins. OMG!

I like the text, but I really love the illustrations.

The stories are:

Little Red Riding Hood

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

The Enormous Turnip

Henny Penny

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

The Little Red Hen

The Three Little Pigs

The Musicians of Bremen

Nice oversized picture book -- very fun to read.