Lost Evangeline (Kate DiCamillo)

 

Kate DiCamillo is in her Norse tales phase. I read The Puppets of Spelhorst and wasn't quite as enamored. This one left me with a feeling like this is a special book. There is another one called The Hotel Balzaar. I don't think the stories are connected at all except that they're all in her series of Norendy tales.

The first picture in the book was in color and seemed to be glued in. That was interesting. Also, this is a tale with a typical mean old step mother who is happy to get rid of her. Her father spends his life searching for her and in the end it says there is a status in Denmark with a real working lantern. 

The illustrations in this book were very captivating. I found myself wanting to sit and look at them longer than usual. It's a quick read....less than an hour. This is another magical Kate DiCamillo book. She seemed to be channeling Thumbelina, Hansel and Gretel, and Alice in Wonderland in a dark and magical way.

Goodreads says:

Two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo reunites with two-time Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall in an original fairy tale set in the world of The Puppets of Spelhorst and The Hotel Balzaar.

When a shoemaker discovers a tiny girl (as small as a mouse!) in his shop, he takes her in, names her Evangeline, and raises her as his own. The shoemaker’s wife, however, fears that Evangeline has bewitched her husband, so when an opportunity arises to rid herself of the girl, she takes it. Evangeline finds herself far from her adopted father and her home, a tiny girl lost in the wide world. But she is brave, and she is resourceful, and with the help of those she meets on her journey—including a disdainful and self-satisfied cat—she may just find her way again. Return to the magical land of Norendy in this third original fairy tale by renowned storyteller Kate DiCamillo, perfect for savoring alone or for reading aloud with someone you love. Graced with exquisite black-and-white illustrations by Sophie Blackall, this timeless story of a girl and her father will make you believe in the impossible.

The Fairy Tale Fan Club (Richard Ayoade)

 

This is a very clever book. There are letters written to different fairy tale characters to ask about their experiences...and the responses are matter of fact, clever and cheeky. I loved it! 

You could use this book as an example and have students write letters to characters in a book.

Goodreads says:
What if you could send fan mail to your fairy tale idols? And what if they wrote back? “Happily ever after” takes on a new meaning in this book from actor-comedian-author Richard Ayoade and best-selling illustrator David Roberts.

It’s once upon a time . . . as only the irreverently witty Richard Ayoade can tell it. In this series of letters organized by C. C. Cecily, Senior Secretary of the Fairy Tale Fan Club, the fairest of them all (and a few bitter foes) correspond with curious—and opinionated—fans. So if you’ve ever wondered how a less-than-genius (and less-than-clothed) emperor fell for a certain con, how the Big Bad Wolf is handling meatless Mondays, or whether Rapunzel recommends going for the big chop, no need to look far, far away. Multihyphenate Richard Ayoade, author of The Book That No One Wanted to Read, hilariously imagines what questions modern children would have for characters such as Sleeping Beauty, Prince Charming, and Little Red Riding Hood—and what they might have to say in return. Complete with clever, spoof-gothic illustrations from David Roberts, this wry storybook may have even the Brothers Grimm cackling in their graves.

Gentle Giant (Michael Morpugo)

 

The story really captivated my class. They felt sad for the giant. 

We talked about how fiction stories (this is a fairy tale) can also have facts in them after reading the afterword that said that water really can be cleaned by stitching straw together.

I've never read a Michael Morpugo book I didn't like.

Goodreads says:

A tale of compassion, love, and the healing powers of nature from an awardwinning team. On a small island in the middle of a silver lake, there once lived a sad young man. He was sad because he had grown up into a giant of a man—very big, very strong, and very frightening. Because no one liked to go near him, his only friends were the wild creatures that lived around him. Then one day, he saves a girl from drowning. Little does he know that she will change his life forever. Drawing on all the arts of traditional storytelling, Gentle Giant weaves a tale of extraordinary relevance to our world today. Michael Morpurgo is one of the most respected children’s authors working today; a winner of the Smarties Prize and the Whitbread Children’s Book Award, he has also been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Fiction Award. Acclaimed illustrator Michael Foreman is a winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal as well as the Smarties Prize. The author–illustrator team have collaborated on a number of highly praised books, including Farm Boy.

Little Red (Bethan Woollvin)

 

Don't mess with the girl in this version of Little Red Riding Hood. 

Good storybook for contrasts and contradictions because we are so familiar with the regular story of Little Red Riding Hood that this one takes us by surprise!

Goodreads says:

Little Red Riding Hood meets a wolf on her way through the woods to visit her sick grandmother. The wolf is hungry, and Red Riding Hood looks tasty, so he hatches a dastardly plan, gobbles up Grandma and lies in wait. So far, so familiar. But this Little Red Riding Hood is not easily fooled, and this big bad wolf better watch his back. In this defiant interpretation of the traditional tale, the cheeky, brave little girl seizes control of her own story (and the wolf gets rather more than he bargained for).

After the Fall (Dan Santat)

 

This is well written and actually quite brilliant. Kids like it and it will speak to adults even more.

This speech goes well with this book:

https://youtu.be/tp7TQJ2q5QE?si=rGSqI6G6sDdTkUjb 

Goodreads says:

My name is Humpty Dumpty.
I'm famous for falling off a wall.

(You may have heard about it.)

But that's only half the story...
Because I decided to get back up.
And when I did, something amazing happened.

This story is about my life...
AFTER THE FALL.

Inspiring and unforgettable, this epilogue to the beloved classic nursery rhyme will encourage even the most afraid to overcome their fears, learn to get back up--and reach new heights.
(front flap)

The Rumpelstiltskin Problem (Vivian VandeVelde)

 

This is a great book for teaching story versions! Each story is quite unique! In one the girl is out to marry the single prince and tries to use made up threats from Rumpelstilskin (who has a wife and quite enough children) to get her wish. In another the girl's father is a foolish boaster who gets his daughter stuck in the castle having to figure out how to turn straw into gold. There are 6 stories and each one is quite unique. 

Goodreads says:

Vivian Vande Velde is whimsically clever in her six recreations of the Rumpelstiltskin story. With divine humor, she reveals the absurdity of the fairy tale. The book is coy, innovative and alluring.

What was with that bizarre fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin? Why would a miller claim that his daughter can spin straw into gold? Why would the king believe him? And why would a odd little man that can spin straw into gold do so in exchange for a tiny gold ring? The story is just silly.
In an attempt to make sense of it all, Vivian Vande Velde retells this wayward fairy tale, providing six alternative takes on the classic account. All six are woven into rich chronicles - all of which are far more intriguing and revealing than the original tale.

The Boy Who Cried Ninja (Alex Latimer)

This is one of those books where kids get together and roll their eyes at the adults in their lives. Adults just don't get it!

This is a twist on the boy who cried wolf. Time has a great fantasy life. Well, everyone assumes it is fantasy. One of my students was able to summarize the story before we read this one. I should have asked at the end if they really were similar stories. It could be a good compare and contrast exercise. Definitely a great discussion starter for imagination.

This book would be a great way to start into a discussion about telling the truth.

Goodreads says:

In this quirky twist on The Boy Who Cried Wolf, a boys excuses turn out to have an unexpected element of truth.

Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell (Chris Colfer)

This is a really fun read with all the additional insight on traditional stories. It would be a good book for kids ready for a book that is challenging yet an easy connection for them. Open up to any page and you could use much of this to teach elaborative detail. It would be fun to do this for an end of year book club pick.

Goodreads says:

Alex and Conner Bailey's world is about to change, in this fast-paced adventure that uniquely combines our modern day world with the enchanting realm of classic fairy tales.
The Land of Stories tells the tale of twins Alex and Conner. Through the mysterious powers of a cherished book of stories, they leave their world behind and find themselves in a foreign land full of wonder and magic where they come face-to-face with the fairy tale characters they grew up reading about.

But after a series of encounters with witches, wolves, goblins, and trolls alike, getting back home is going to be harder than they thought.

I Thought This Was a Bear Book (Tara Lazar)

It was fun to read the alien's voice in a robotic way. Tara Lazar did it again. Hilarious! This book breaks the 4th wall, speaks directly to the reader, and my students loved it. They told me to shake it a little harder, when we needed to shake the book.

Goodreads says:

When an alien crashes into the story of The Three Little Bears, it's a laugh-out-loud adventure and a classic storybook mash-up!

After an unfortunate bookcase collapse, Alien suddenly finds himself jolted out of his story and into a very strange world, complete with talking bears. Desperate to return to his book, Alien asks the Bear family for help so he can get back to his story and save his beloved Planet Zero from total destruction before it's too late.

Mama Bear and Papa Bear try all kinds of zany contraptions (with some help from their nemesis, Goldilocks) without much luck. Baby Bear might have the perfect solution to get the Alien out of the woods and back to his planet...but will anyone listen to the littlest voice in the story? 

Little Red Gliding Hood (Tara Lazar)

Another great Tara Lazar book! My class really enjoyed this and seemed to be quite caught up in the story. It has a good rhythm and many of the phrases we've heard before in other stories. The pictures are really detailed, which also brought about some interesting comments and showed that the kids were really taken in by this story. We had just had a decodable that had a fox in it and so a fox/wolf being tricky was a familiar meta-narrative. This wolf being a not-big and bad wolf brought the whole idea up again and made for an interesting discussion. All the references to different story book characters were a great review, especially for my students who are from other countries and aren't as familiar with all the traditional stories we sometimes assume kids know but actually don't.

Goodreads says:

Little Red Riding Hood straps on her ice skates in this fractured fairy tale! A figure skating enthusiast, Little Red has worn her skates right out and must win a pairs competition to earn new ones. But who will be her partner? The Dish is already dancing with the Spoon, and Hansel is spinning Gretel like sugar. You won’t believe what big eyes, sharp teeth, and long snout her partner has…all the better to spin her with!

Sweep: The Story of A Girl and Her Monster (Jonathan Auxier)

This is one of those books that I'd love to read with kids. It's a little too much for grade 3 though, I think.  It made me want to read more by this author. It came highly recommended and did not disappoint.

The main character, Nan, really drew me in and had me cheering for her. It made me want to learn more about the history of child labor and sweeps and caring for orphans. A good twist to the lovely Mary Poppins stories. It's kind of a fairy tale, historical fiction book full of good cliff hangers and plot twists.

“ Brooms Up!”

“With brush and pail and soot and song!
A sweep brings luck all season long!”


Goodreads Says:
For nearly a century, Victorian London relied on "climbing boys"--orphans owned by chimney sweeps--to clean flues and protect homes from fire. The work was hard, thankless and brutally dangerous. Eleven-year-old Nan Sparrow is quite possibly the best climber who ever lived--and a girl. With her wits and will, she's managed to beat the deadly odds time and time again. 
But when Nan gets stuck in a deadly chimney fire, she fears her time has come. Instead, she wakes to find herself in an abandoned attic. And she is not alone. Huddled in the corner is a mysterious creature--a golem--made from ash and coal. This is the creature that saved her from the fire. 
Sweep is the story of a girl and her monster. Together, these two outcasts carve out a life together--saving one another in the process.


Notes: 

March 30, 2019 – 

page 8

 

 2.17% "Why does before get a capital: The first rule was you never asked another clinber about his life Before."

March 30, 2019 – 

page 32

 

 8.7% "The Sweep had never understood how a person could sleep through a sunrise. "It's like Heaven itself is offering you a gift you're too lazy to open.""

March 30, 2019 – 

page 35

 

 9.51% "...Miss Meyhew's Seminary (?) for Young Ladies"

March 30, 2019 – 

page 72

 

 19.57% "Nan watched Charlie watching his first sunrise. His eyes were impossibly wide.

It's like heaven itself is offering us a gift."

March 30, 2019 – 

page 72

 

 19.57% "Home is a safe place to put your things so burglars don't touch them."

March 30, 2019 – 

page 146

 

 39.67% "The best way to inspire a love of reading is to read something you love...even if it is difficult."

March 30, 2019 – 

page 130

 

 35.33% ""I did not have big arms then," Charlie said. "I used my head to push the bricks away. And then I helped in my Charlie way.:
Nan was surprised to hear how clearly he remembered all this. He was usually quite forgetful. "What do you mean by your 'Charlie way'?" she asked.
The creature shrugged and looked down at his hands. "Um..." Loose soot crumbled from his fingers. "I made it wake up in you.""

March 30, 2019 – 

page 131

 

 35.6% "Nan shook her head. "Made what wake up?"
He looked up at her. "Your heart.""

April 10, 2019 – 

page 131

 

 35.6% "Nan shook her head. "Made what wake up?"
He looked up at her. "Your heart.""

April 10, 2019 – 

page 166

 

 45.11% "Nan told Charlie about the whole thing. How the baby Jesus was born in a basket and how a wicked kind tried to kidnap him but then a big bearded angel named Father Christmas fought the king...he tossed the baby Jesus down the chimney of a girl named Mary, and that was the first Christmas present."....now every year in winter, Father Christmas spends one night bringing presents down the chimneys of good boys and girls"

April 10, 2019 – 

page 180

 

 48.91% "That's how it works, doesn't it? We are saved by saving others."

April 10, 2019 – 

page 212

 

 57.61% "My whole life, folks have treated me like I was nothing-just because of how I looked. And maybe that's the problem. If we all could just ignore the way other people looked, then we could see who they really were."

April 10, 2019 – 

page 234

 

 63.59% "Nan woke from a dream about the Sweep. He had been mending her coat, as he often did, and she had noticed something about his own clothes -how worn and tattered they had become. With every stitch he gave her, he lost one of his own."

April 10, 2019 – 

page 282

 

 76.63% ""It ain't going to happen ma'am," Whittles said. "We're inside their houses every day - right under their noses. It's been this way for hundreds of years. Some folks are very good at not seeing things they don't want to see.""

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Frank Baum)

I recently saw a stage production of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I had wanted to read the book ahead of time so that I could see the differences between the original story and the stage production. Although I didn't find the book in time, I'm still glad I read it.

A lot of the book is pretty much the same as the stage production, until you get to the end. The end of the book goes on much longer after Lion and Tinman and Scarecrow receive what they're seeking. The wizard gives them a much bigger run around in the book and there seems to be a lot more violence, which is often the irony in fairy tales written for children - except for that lady who wanted to take Toto. I don't remember her in the book at all. The other thing is in the book it wasn't a dream, like the movie or the play...thank goodness! I think that is a pansy way of making sense of a story. I liked that about the book! Also, Dorothy wears silver shoes in the book, not red. There seem to be a lot more witches in the book. I couldn't keep them straight. Every point on the compass has a witch, it seems. I also couldn't keep track of all the places in Oz in the book. Mifkets? Merryland? The Land of Ev? They were also things I couldn't really keep in my head.

I'm glad I read the book.

Good reads says:

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.‘“Come along, Toto,” she said. “We will go to the Emerald City and ask the Great Oz how to get back to Kansas again.”’Swept away from her home in Kansas by a tornado, Dorothy and her dog Toto find themselves stranded in the fantastical Land of Oz. As instructed by the Good Witch of the North and the Munchkins, Dorothy sets off on the yellow brick road to try and find her way to the Emerald City and the Wizard of Oz, who can help her get home.With her companions the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, Dorothy experiences an adventure full of friendship, magic and danger. A much-loved children’s classic, The Wizard of Oz continues to delight readers young and old with its enchanting tale of witches, flying monkeys and silver shoes.

The Princess and the Pizza

This story is quite funny. I like the independence the princess shows. My students loved the twists on the Princess and the Pea (the princess rolls her eyes at the fact that they're using the old pea under the mattress trick to see if she really is a princess). A bunch of princesses show up to compete for the chance to marry the prince. There's the one whose always tripping on her hair, the one who has all these strange little men with her, etc. In the end, she turns down the chance to marry the prince (he was named Drupert....so you can imagine how much personality he had) and opens her own pizza shop instead.

Goodreads summary:

An out of work princess must prepare a feast fit for a prince.

Little Red's Riding Hood (Peter Stein)

A great take on a classic story, with a fun twist for kids who really love vehicles! I know of a bunch of little boys who'd really love this one. We all had a good chuckle as we read it. My class did a lot of work last year on different versions of stories, so they really love this kind of story.

Goodreads Summary:

When Little Red's Granny Putt Putt gets sick, the tiny moped scooter races over the river and through the dark woods to bring her a basket of get-well goodies.

But when Little Red crosses paths with Tank, the biggest, loudest, meanest machine around, that no-good monster truck has plans of his own.

Why, Granny, what big wheels you have!
Why, Granny, what big headlights you have!
Why, Granny, what a big hood you have!

From the sparkplug, creative minds of Peter Stein and Chris Gall comes a full-throttle version of the classic LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD tale that will have everyone revving for more.

Life of Zarf (Rob Harrell)

As I read this, I could imagine my son chuckling away at the humour. I can't wait to share it with him! This book makes me think teaching middle school would be really fun :) They would really get a kick out of this humour.

This is kind of a mix of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and classic fairy tales. There is a troll (lowest in the middle school totem pole) named Zarf who gets teased because his names rhymes with barf. He has a bad temper and ends up beating up one of his classmates - the not so charming prince. The lunch lady at school is Goldilocks (yup, school lunches always involve porridge). Zarf's two best friends are a pig named Kevin (get it? Kevin Bacon??) who is a huge worrier and the Jester's son, Chester, whose jokes are just terrible. Their adventures together are hilarious. I hope there are more of these books to come!

Some of my favourite funny moments:

- Their cell phone provider is Grimm. "They are the worst!"

- The troll, the pig and the jester all go on an adventure. One night they end up staying with a family whose son has a nervous tic. Every twenty or so minutes he yells, "Wolf!" Of course, this doesn't go over well with Kevin the pig.

- Along the way they find a candy house!! They start indulging until suddenly it strikes them....Hansel and Gretl made this same mistake! In the end it turns out the lunch lady goldilocks bought the house from the original owner. The owner has. Now moved to Cabo and opened a tiki bar.m

One question I had:

Why does TrollPower always have a copyright symbol after the words? (I.e. P. 252)

Goodreads Summary: 

Shrek meets Wimpy Kid in this epically funny tale of a troll trying to figure out how to be more popular

It’s not easy being Zarf. As a troll, he's stuck at the bottom of the middle school hierarchy, way below
the prince and knights (populars), ogres and giants (jocks), and even the lowly minstrels (band geeks). Plus, trolls aren't exactly known for their brain power or cool demeanor. But it gets worse. When the king disappears and Zarf's archenemy, the prince, ascends the throne, he makes Zarf's life even more miserable. And so it is that Zarf and his two sidekicks (a neurotic, mutton-obsessed pig and the not-funny son of the court jester) set out to find the missing king as well as their way to middle school heroism. (Okay, the heroism part might be wishful thinking.)

The first book in this brilliant new illustrated series from comics creator Rob Harrell has the perfect mix of real world and fairy tale.

Inkheart (Cornelia Funke)

For some reason this has often been a stall book for me. I get half way through it then don't finish it. Despite all the times I started and didn't finish it, I love this book! (I did finally finish it) I love the idea of having stories come to life. I loved how people escape into the stories and escape out of the stories. I loved that reading well can make it all happen. I loved all the references to other books and stories. Fabulous story! Goodreads Summary: Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father, who repairs and binds books for a living, can "read" fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force him into service.   Characters from books literally leap off the page in this engrossing fantasy. Meggie has had her father to herself since her mother went away when she was young. Mo taught her to read when she was five, and the two share a mutual love of books. He can "read" characters out of books. When she was three, he read aloud from a book called Inkheart and released characters into the real world. At the same time, Meggie's mother disappeared into the story. This "story within a story" will delight not just fantasy fans, but all readers who like an exciting plot with larger-than-life characters

Stuart Little (E.B. White)

I read this book with my class as a novel study. I read it along with my class, figuring an another like E.B. White makes it hard to go wrong. Honestly, I thought it was just okay. I played like I was very enthusiastic for my students, but I didn't think the story was great. The chapters don't compel you to go on to find out what happens in the next chapter because scenarios pretty much get resolved in each chapter.

Each chapter is a vignette. We really enjoyed the story of Stuart getting caught in the blind. We also got a kick out of the parents concerns about Stuart being self-conscious about being a mouse. They ban all references to "mice" in family conversation; they even tear the song "Three Blind Mice" from the nursery songbook. A theme starts to run through a few chapters with a bird named Margalo, but the bird flies away, Stuart sets off to find her, and that part of the story is never resolved. He also meets a girl, Harriet, who is small like him. He's quite taken by her, but his planned date doesn't work out and it pretty much ends there.

When we finished the book there were a number of exasperated children who said, "That's a terrible ending!"

We immediately got on the library website to see if there was a second Stuart Little book. It looks like Disney continued the story, but E.B. White didn't. He didn't even end this one very well. Not your best work Mr. White. Sorry.....we did enjoy watching the movie, after though. Not surprisingly, it's quite different from the book....I suppose they had to do something with it!

Call me weird - but I found, as I was reading, adding in commas that were missed. There were also some terribly long run on sentences. My students also had some confusion over things that are just plain old fashioned. For example, in the beginning the mother is introduced as Mrs. Fredrick C. Little. The kids said, "Her name is Fredrick?!" It took me a few minutes to realize she was introducing herself as women did in the past, with her husband's name.

Meh.

The Little Mermaid (Hans Christian Andersen and Lisbeth Zwerger)

I've never read the original version of The Little Mermaid. Having been indoctrinated by Disney, I was surprised at how it ends. This book is a translation from Danish. I'm looking forward to sharing it with my class prior to going and seeing our high school put on a play. We will talk about how people tell stories in different ways and change details. Later we will read Battle Bunny and perhaps make our own version of a different story.

Surprisingly, most of the kids in my class have not seen the movie of The Little Mermaid. I sang some of the songs and they all looked at me like I was off my rocker. Kids these days!!

I wondered why the text is in different colors in random places. I couldn't find anything in the book to answer that question.

Battle Bunny (Jon Scieszka)

John Scieszka is hilarious, and is doing good things for kids and books! In this book, a boy named Alex is given a picture book that is boring boring boring. He changes it from boring to everything 8 or 9 year old boys love!

I thought this book would be a good starter to writing our own version of a story.

Three Little Pigs: An Architectural Story(Steven Guarnaccia)

Goodreads summary:

In this quirky, artsy retelling of "The Three Little Pigs,” the pigs and their homes are nods to three famous architects—Frank Gehry, Phillip Johnson, and Frank Lloyd Wright—and their signature homes. Each house is filled with clever details, including furnishings by the architects and their contemporaries. Of course, not all the houses are going to protect the pigs from the wolf’s huffing and puffing. Which one will? The wolf, and readers, are in for a clever surprise ending.

This book would be a great one for our Structures and Design unit! It would be interesting to teach them about the three great architects mentioned in the book (Frank Gehry, Phillip Johnson, and my personal favorite: Frank Lloyd Wright). Frankly, I think this book would be a great one for all ages)