Poisoned by Jennifer Donnelly read by Rosie Jones

​Jennifer Donnelly has done it again. As with Stepsister, she begins at the conclusion of a well-known fairytale and proceeds to spin a tale that answers the question: What happens next? Her inventive fantasy is not simply rearranging narrative details. She uses several story elements and weaves them together to create an entirely new shimmering cloth. Poisoned opens deep in a forest. By command of the queen, a huntsman escorts eighteen-year-old Sophie into a secluded spot, proceeds to cut out her heart and place it in a special box that will keep the heart alive. Then he leaves the dying girl and hurries back the castle, delivering the precious heart to Sophie’s evil stepmother. What an opening!

Tempting. Very Tempting

Straight on Till Morning, A Twisted Tale
​by Liz Braswell read by Lorna Bennett

Listen to a sample.

Braswell takes Peter Pan in a new direction. Straight On Till Morning centers around two females: a sixteen-year-old girl and a tiny, determined fairy. ​Wendy, on the cusp of adulthood, faces the prospect of the dreary predictable life that society expects of her: caring for her younger brothers and ultimately becoming a governess. This girl who delights in spinning stories wants more. Under cover of darkness she escapes England for her land of make-believe. Bargaining with Captain Hook, she offers Peter Pan’s shadow in exchange for passage to Neverland.

More Twisted Tales

If you like your "happily ever after" with a contemporary spin, try Twisted Tales, a Disney series reimagining classic fairytales. Currently there are nine titles in the Twisted Tale collection. For those who like to read a series in order, here is the current list, beginning with A Whole New World (2016) to So This is Love (2020). The series is written by fantasy authors Jen Calonita, Elizabeth Lim, and Liz Braswell.

Bo the Brave by Bethan Woolvin

Woolvin has done it again. Incorporating traditional fairy tale elements, she has created a marvelous little story with the unique plot twist that readers have come to expect from this talented picture book author. Bo lives in the Alpine Kingdom filled with slimy sea monsters, scary cave beasts, and horrid forest monsters.  When her older brothers set off to catch a monster, Bo begs to come too. The boys tell her no. "You're far too little." Armed with her bow and arrow, she sneaks out of the castle, in search of a monster to slay. Readers can follow  Bo's travels with the map featured on the end papers She encounters some strange and possibly fearsome creatures: a Griffin, a Kraken, and a dragon. However, each responds to Bo with kindness and concern.

Eye Spy

Frederico and the Wolf by Rebecca J. Gomez ill by Elisa Chavarri

Once upon a modern time... Gomez takes the well-known tale of "Little Red Riding Hood," dresses the main character in a scarlet hoodie, adds a distinctive Latin flavor, and sets it to a rhythmic beat. It's Federico and the Wolf, a contemporary retelling. In this version, young Federico bikes to his grandfather's shop. First he stops to purchase ingredients for pico de gallo.  He and grandfather plan to enjoy lunch together and then whip up a batch of hot salsa.  Federico is on his way with a basket of groceries when a hungry wolf appears and declares his intent to devour this niño. It takes some quick thinking and a large habanero to outwit un lobo.

At the tale's conclusion, Gomez shares a recipe for pico de gallo. She adds a glossary of Spanish words and phrases with pronunciation guide along with definitions.  Chavarri's charming illustrations have a contemporary folk-art quality. End papers feature colorful traditional patterns with the faces of Federico and Grandfather nestled within the designs. Her portfolio includes this dazzling bookmobile art.

Brick by Brick by Heidi Woodward Sheffield

Brick mason meets young reader. Sheffield has ingeniously woven together the building of an architectural structure and the creation a reader. Both are busy: constructing brick by brick, book by book. ​Pages views alternate between parallel activities. Papa scales the scaffolding while Luis scrambles up playground equipment. Papa mixes mortar and trowels a layer of cement as Luis molds clay. Papa stacks bricks row by row and Luis arranges a tower of his favorite stories, book upon book. The heart of the story is the relationship between a father and son. Luis rides on his father's shoulders while wearing papa's hard hat. The two share a warm abrazo. Together they work and plan for the fulfillment of a dream: a house that they can call home.

Bluebeard: A Feminist Fairy Tale by Metaphrog

​The dynamic duo Metaphrog have created a creeptastic reimagining of Bluebeard. Award-winning co-creators John Chalmers and Sandra Marrs have cast this traditional French folktale as a fantasy feminist story. Readers meet a girl who doesn’t wait to be rescued. She rescues herself. Here’s how it happens: Eve and her family live near an enchanted forest. Beyond the forest atop a high mountain is the castle of Count Bluebeard. Eve's idyllic life with her family and her best friend Tom is disrupted when strange things begin to happen near the forest. Animals disappear. ​People can be trapped in the masses of dense vegetation. No one dares to enter this sinister wood.

After Eve reaches her eighteenth year, Bluebeard decides to select a bride from among the townsfolk. With a roll of the dice, Eve is selected to become his wife and live with him on the mountaintop. Following the marriage ceremony he takes her to his imposing, opulently furnished castle. Eve notices a long corridor leading to countless rooms. At the end of an extended hallway is a door opened only with a special golden key. When Bluebeard leaves on urgent business he presents Eve with a ring of keys giving her access to all rooms in the castle. ​She is explicitly warned to never enter the door unlocked with the golden key. Alone and anxious, Eve roams throughout the castle, going from room to room.

More Wondrous Stories 

Sea Sirens: A Trot & Cap’n Bill Adventure
​by Amy Chu & Janet K. Lee

California surfer Trot spends her summer days with Cap’n Bill, a one-eyed rescue cat wearing a tiny red life vest who joins her on the surfboard and her Vietnamese grandfather who is in the early stages of dementia and sometimes wanders off.   One day Trot and Cap'n Bill sneak away to catch a big wave. Her board capsizes, sending them into a magical world in the briny deep. When sea serpents threaten a bevy of lovely sea sirens, Cap'n Bill lashes out, sending away the serpents. In gratitude, the seahorse-riding sirens give Trot and her cat the ability to breathe underwater and transport the duo back to their mother Queen Aquareine and her opulent kingdom, or more accurately, queendom. They are honored with a lavish celebration. A special guest arrives for the festivities: grandpa!  He slipped into the ocean and wandered into this enchanted aquatic paradise. ​

More Underwater Adventures

Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly

What happens after Cinderella slips her dainty foot into the glass slipper and is whisked away by the prince? What will become of the step mother and her two daughters? Donnelly begins this fractured fairy tale with the scene in which each stepsister cuts off a part of her foot in an attempt to fit into the crystal shoe. Each fails and is left with a maimed foot, a heart full of resentment, and no prospects. What will become of them? This retelling contemplates the future. Who or what influences one’s fortune? Is it the Fates, three women who spend their days determining the destiny for every person? Writing with magical inks, they create individual life maps, which they believe are unalterable. Chance questions this supposition and wagers that it is Chance not Fate which will decide the course of a stepsister’s life. Which will prevail: Fate or Chance? There is Magic in this sad, hard world. A magic stronger than fate, stronger than chance. And it is seen in the unlikeliest of places.

Hansel and Gretel by Bethan Woollvin

Bethan Woollvin has done it again! A well-known fairy tale is turned it on its ear. This time the story’s surprise element is evident at the onset: two spoiled and mean-spirited children, Hansel and Gretel encounter the home of a kindly witch named Willow. Because she is a good witch, she returns their boorish behavior with kindness. When the twins commence to eat her home (which is made of gingerbread) she responds by preparing a delicious meal. When the children refuse to help her tidy up the forest, she overlooks their thoughtlessness. "Willow did not get angry, because Willow was a good witch"

Gingerbread Goodness

Make some fragrant playdough

Gingerbread recipe

Step-by-step directions for creating your own  ​Gingerbread House

More Woollin Fairy Tale Retellings

Smoke and Mirrors by K. D. Halbrook

Weaving a tale of wonder filled with pain, regret, resolve, hope, and a generous dose of magic is difficult. K. D. Halbrook's words seem to flow effortlessly, creating an illusion that is enchanting, while simultaneously heartbreaking.   Sasha and Toddy are children of Cirque Magnifique performers. From infancy, their lives have revolved around the wonder of daring aerial acts and dazzling costumes. People come from afar to marvel at these performances. Everyone, that is, except for the residents on the other side of the island. They will have nothing to do with this strangeness Sasha is devastated when their parents decide that the siblings must attend school with the island children. She believes that she won't fit in. She doesn’t. ​The Cirque kids were color in a gray world, they were many languages and strange accents, they were children of bizarre grown-ups who didn’t have normal jobs or wear normal clothes or carry the same tired expressions in their eyes, like the other island parents did.

You remember every nice thing that's happened to you. The people who hugged you when you were sad. The ones who invited you to their birthday party and gave you nicest piece of cake. You think about the most beautiful sights on the island.

Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier

Welcome to the world of Victorian England’s chimney sweeps. Jonathan Auxier has created a tale that is part historical fiction, part fantasy, part social commentary, and pure magic. ​Nan Sparrow has only known life as a chimney sweep. From infancy she was nurtured by a man she calls the Sweep. Together they did more than simply survive a grubby, demanding life of toil and deprivation. Instead he taught Nan to find joy in what others might deem a joyless existence. ​The Sweep had never understood how a person could sleep through the sunrise. 'It's like Heaven itself is offering you a gift you're too lazy to open,' he used to say. Then he'd wink and add, 'Ah, well. More for us.'

​And yet, here in the dusty crawl space, she held a miracle in her hands.

"A sage or rabbi--​ that is, a Jewish priest— forms a body out of mud or clay and then brings the creature to life with a sort of magic word called a Shem"...
"In your stories, why did the rabbi make his golem?"
"Why does a person create anything? Out of necessity... The golem is made to help people who fear for their lives.”

Stories to Tell. Stories to Share.

Sometimes on nights when there was no food to eat, the girl and her Sweep used to make Story soup. The girl would fill her pockets with trash she found on the streets - scraps of paper or trampled strings or bits of colored glass. At the end of the day, she would present these things to The Sweep. “Make Story soup!” she would tell him.’
​”Oh-ho!” The Sweep would always exclaim, rubbing his belly with both hands. ‘You’ve brought us ingredients for a right feast!’

​It's a very private thing to open a present and a person deserves to do it on his own way.

Bonus: The Wit and Wisdom of Sweep

​What is a year?
A year is a bunch of days put together.
Oh, it's much more than that! ...A year is a little lifetime.