Untold Tales (Hardcover)

~ William J. Brooke (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As he did in A Telling of the Tales: Five Stories , Brooke here recasts familiar fairy tales in inventive--if somewhat bizarre--molds. In a retelling of The Frog Prince , for example, a king who began life as a frog realizes he's happier in his original state. After running the kingdom by herself, his Queen joins him in amphibian bliss when he kisses her . More plodding is a reworking of "Beauty and the Beast," in which a physical role reversal has Beauty the unsightly character and the Beast a paragon of physical perfection. The keenest entry brings an aging Sleeping Beauty together with Prince Charming--after he has spent years married to Snow White, whom he awoke when he tried to practice his kissing technique on her. Brooke eventually weaves Hansel and Gretel--and even himself and the inner workings of his word processor--into this cleverly labyrinthine compendium. The narrative overflows with puns and wordplay, some of which may be lost on readers at the younger edge of the intended audience. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-9-- The author of A Telling of the Tales (HarperCollins, 1990) has written four more original renditions of fairy tales. The Frog Prince has become a workaholic king, leaving his queen to pine for the old days with her green, slimy playmate. Beauty is a sweet and homely girl, while the Beast is an uncommonly handsome young man with a cruelly cold personality. An aging Prince Charming arrives 25 years late to awaken Sleeping Beauty, now a 45-year-old widow. In the last story, which begins with the Prince and Aurora frozen with smiles on their faces wondering why they are still on stage, the author inserts himself into the tale, interacting with the characters in a surreal, Pirandello sort of way. He takes outrageous liberties with his plots, such as killing off the Prince with a falling meteor. Charming, in turn, finds his way into the inner workings of the author's computer to sabotage his further efforts. In a whirlwind ending, Brooke and characters elude one another until the Prince and Princess, turned into frogs, go together ``Between the Stories as their tale was untold.'' Full of witty word play, philosophical musings, and satirical comment, these tales may have difficulty finding their audience. Much of the humor is adult in perspective, and children will not have much patience with the philosophical introspection of ``A Beauty in the Beast.'' Older students who would appreciate the satire may be put off by the format and juvenile appearance of the cover. Still, these tales are exquisitely written and remarkably inventive so that a creative teacher or librarian could introduce them by reading aloud or use them to teach writing techniques. --Connie C. Rockman, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 164 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books; 1st edition (May 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060202718
• ISBN-13: 978-0060202712
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,834,146 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Collection!!, October 27, 1999

By A Customer

Having never read Brooke's A Telling of the Tale, I cannot say whether or not this one was a disappointing sequel, but on its own, I thought this collection of short stories was wonderful! This was the first set of stories I read that took the traditional fairy tale and turned it completely upside-down. I absolutely love this book.

Three of the four stories contain reworkings of Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, and the Frog Prince. In Beauty and the Beast, Beauty is a truly hideous-looking woman with a gentle, loving heart, and the Beast is a stunningly beautiful man with a heart of ice. The ending is definitely not traditional. I was almost disappointed with the ending, but it fits:0)

The story of the Frog Prince takes place years after the princess kissed the frog and turned him into a prince. Now, married and middle-aged, the magic seems to have gone out of the relationship. The queen wishes her husband were a frog again, and the king wants desperately to tell his wife he loves her, but is too busy, too harried, and too afraid to say anything. The plan that the king comes up with is definitely original! A winner! Once again, the ending is far from a conventional fairy-tale's.

The third story, a remake of Sleeping Beauty, also takes place long after the princess is released from her slumbers with a kiss. Her husband long dead and the princess herself settled into almost-middle age, the princess opens her door one day to find a middle-aged prince standing on the doorstep, determined to kiss her. What ensues is a very funny story, and leads into the last tale, which is so different you must read it for yourself. Enjoy!