A must read for your children. Well, who am I kidding? A must read period. But, you know, read it with your children if you have them. ( )

Reseña en español: http://boisde-merveilles.blogspot.com/2018/03/beanstalker-and-other-hilarious_5....

The tales in this book are mainly Snow White, Jack and the beanstalk, red riding hood, the princes and the pea, Goldilocks, Cinderella, and Rapunzel.

The book is physically beautiful, the hardback is green and the book has really lovely illustrations to accompany the story. I’ve had the chance of meeting Kiersten White and I could clearly hear her voice in my head while reading this, she is a really funny person during events, and her particular sense of humor is present all the time in this book.

The book is divided by the “retelling” in turn, but all stories are connected, so it’s a full story.

The beginning was a bit slow, and the book is full of word plays I think would be really hard to translate in other languages because those word plays are important for the story.

The twists of the fairytales were really unexpected and unconventional, adding zombies and vampires in the mix.

This is a fun light read, but I think it’s one of those middle grade books that are perfect for the targeted audience, but may seem not so funny for grown-ups. ( )

There's a lot of clever jokes about homonyms (rein, reign, rain; hair and Herr; and, of course, pee and pea) and some unexpected zombears, but the concept itself—re-told and interwoven fairy tales and nursery rhymes with a narrator who inserts herself into the tale— is about as fresh as one of White's zombies. ( )

This was another choice for my October Book Explosion club meeting (genre - fantasy) which I did not have time to read. It turned out to be quite awesome, but not quite right for any of the kids who attended that meeting, so it's just as well nobody wanted it although there's still a chance it will get picked by a latecomer!

Apparently this was inspired by a series of tweets from the author, which I missed as I do not tweet. It's not quite fractured fairy tale fare, although very close, and it's a mix of gory, gruesome, and just gross. But it's also quite funny and I giggled all through it.

The story opens with Rapunzel in her tower and Prince Charming coming to save her. Only her "fair hair" isn't what he thinks it is and Prince Charming *cough* or Charring, has his own secrets.... following her stepmother, we visit another kingdom where everyone loves the sweet, charming, lovely, Snow White. They love her so much they prefer to wake at night, as she does, and everyone looks rather pale... When the stepmother sends her stepson Jack away, he winds up at a kingdom that is looking for a princess - and they decide to set a test with a pea in the bed. Except Jack never was good at spelling (or eating vegetables) and he leaves something quite different in the bed... not to mention the pease porridge...

So it continues, weaving in classic fairy tales, adding zombies, arsonists, and vampires, interspersed with rewritten nursery rhymes with quite a different meaning. Finally, just when the narrator is about to give up hope (along with the stepmother - yes, it's the same stepmother in all the stories) Jack manages to do something clever, for the first time in his life. Er, maybe. Maybe not. Yeah, definitely no sequel for this book...

Verdict: Recommend to readers who like Lubar's Weenie books or Gidwitz deliciously dark fairy tale fantasies. Just...don't eat the pease porridge. Ever.

ISBN: 9780545940603; Published 2017 by Scholastic; Borrowed from another library in my consoritum

This series of tales is a Lone Star 2018 selection.

Each chapter is a different story, but the stories create an overall story of fairy tale land. There are many castles (think of all the fairy tales involving castles), so our characters move about in this world. You’ll meet Jack (of Beanstalk fame), Jill, Snow White, various step-mothers, Cinderella, Prince Charming, Rapunzel, etc. The characters move from story to story with Ms. White cheekily playing with the famous characters.

If I tell anything about the stories, it’ll ruin them. Just don’t expect what you think you know. It’s just silly fun to see what Ms. White thinks of to link all of these characters in one story. Enjoy the surprise and be prepared to giggle at the snarkiness. My only criticism is that the narrator is never revealed or I was too tired to figure it out! ( )