Tales from the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird by Vivian Vande Velde

[katekintailbc]

Tales from the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird
by Vivian Vande Velde

I picked a copy of this book up from the library discard free book shelf at Arlington City library because I love fairy tales and the title appealed to me. Come to find out that it was a series of fairy tales re-told with little twists--I couldn't have been more excited. These are fairy tales with realistic and humorous twists and touches. The Beast is shocked to find out the traveller named his daughter Beauty, wondering if they just didn't call her anything to begin with or if they just hoped she grew into her name (why not name her "Mathematical Ability"? LMAO). Jack didn't really climb a been salk; he had simply had too many beers. Little Red Riding Hood is an actress diva who wants to be known for her red velvet and hates the claw marks on the floor her grandmother's good friend, the wolf, makes. The frog prince is so annoyed that the pricess kept breaking her promise that, when the curse breaks, he calls her crazy for trying to flirt with him.

There are also a few short pieces--poems, a wanted bulletin, etc. creatively thrown in-between stories. One of them brought up a great question: if at midnight the fairy godmother's magic ended and Cinderella's carriage turned into a pumpkin, her dress turned into rags, and the footmen turned into mice... why did the slipper stay pretty and glass? In some tales the glass slipper comes from elsewhere, but in some stories it doesn't...

I really enjoyed looking at all these different takes on familiar stories, most of which made me laugh out loud at their perfection. What an entertaining and clever book. Highly recommended!