Vote For Your Favorite Cinderellas!

I'm going to be updating several pages on the SurLaLune main site soon, especially with latest releases and video and perhaps some updated design. Cinderella comes first and I wanted to ask for your help.

On the Cinderella pages, the right hand column features cover images for books, movies, etc. of Cinderella. I will feature new releases in the column and then highlight other popular titles in the remaining space. But I can't decide which ones to highlight since there is an abundance to choose from.

So what are your favorite modern Cinderella retellings in picture books, novels, movies, etc.? No limit on how many you like, just add a comment to this post. I would post some here, but I want fresh results with no prompting by me.

In a week I will randomly choose one of the replies to receive a free paperback copy of Cinderella Tales From Around the World as a thank you, limit one entry per user name.

Coupon for Little Mermaid Blu-Ray and DVD Releases

The Little Mermaid (Three-Disc Diamond Edition: Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD + Digital Copy + Music) and The Little Mermaid (Two-Disc Diamond Edition: Blu-ray / DVD + Digital Copy) have $5 off coupons available for the next three days on Amazon on the item pages linked above. Just look at the special promotions line to clip the coupon and then use it before the coupon expires in three days.

These are preorders and in my experience the price always goes down considerably closer to release date, so preordering with the coupon now--which will be applied to the lowest price listed on the item between now and release day--will get you one of the movie sets for the best price on release day. I've saved several dollars doing this previously on other purchases.

Of course, this all depends on just how many times you have bought and own Little Mermaid. I have a DVD of the movie already, not Blu-Ray, and am debating whether I am going to buy it AGAIN. They do resell well whatever edition you have but I usually pass them along to other families with even tighter budgets than mine. Note that these editions include digital copies so the Disney double/triple/quadruple dipping on consumers with their "vault releasing" strategies will have to be more creative in the future.

Bargain Books: Cinder, Scarlet, & The Thirteenth Tale

I am going to be returning to more regular posting soon. I am in the throes of finishing up the next SurLaLune book as well as personal demands beyond SurLaLune's doman, from a thankfully light cold, travel, work, and the various stresses and mundane demands of living. But since these have a time limit, I'm taking a moment to share.

This weekend only, Marissa Meyer's fairy tale sci fi novels are on sale again in ebook format. This time Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles) is $3.56 (even cheaper!) and Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles) is $4.99, same price as before. They are similarly priced on Barnes and Noble. They will go back to the $7-9 range after Sunday night. They really shouldn't be missed. They are best sellers for a reason...

And while we're here:

The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel by Diane Setterfield is $1.99 today (Saturday) only on Amazon. It may be of interest to SurLaLune readers.

Book description:

When Margaret Lea opened the door to the past, what she confronted was her destiny.

All children mythologize their birth...So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter's collection of stories, which are as famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale as they are for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist.

The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself -- all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter's story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission.

As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized. It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire.

Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida's storytelling but remains suspicious of the author's sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.

The Thirteenth Tale is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children. Diane Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter and, in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfied back upon the shore of your everyday life.

The Worn Out Dancing Shoes at Erstwhile Comics

Erstwhile Comics has begun a new fairy tale comic on their site, this time The Worn Out Dancing Shoes, often known better by the title of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. New pages are launching Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays until the comic is completed. I know there are many fans of the tale here, so head on over and read and show your support for this great site and work. If you are unfamiliar with Erstwhile (I've posted about them before), many lesser known tales are offered for your comic reading pleasure.

Louisa Roy has met the challenge of giving the sisters personalities in this first page:

New Release: On The Dark Path: An Anthology of Fairy Tale Poetry

On The Dark Path: An Anthology of Fairy Tale Poetry, edited by Anita M. Barnard, was released last month but I've been saving it for April since this is National Poetry Month in the US.

Book description:

A haunting and profound collection of fairy tale based poems from modern writers. Speaking to us from the woods and the cottage, from the marriage bed, the hospital bed, the writing group and the camps at Dachau, the forty-eight poets in this anthology of poems based on traditional fairy tales, edited by DFW poet and longtime fairy tale enthusiast Anita M. Barnard, bring their personal worlds to the fairy tale and the fairy tale out into the world at large. "On the Dark Path is a hauntingly beautiful collection of poems that lead us deeper into these ancient tales than we've been before. Powerful, surprising, sometimes brutal, these poems enchant the imagination and linger in the mind for days.

If you live in the Dallas, TX area, there will be a reading featuring the editor and some of the poets in May. You can read more about it at book release.

Who: Anita Barnard
What: Book Release: On the Dark Path: An Anthology of Fairy Tale Poetry
When: Saturday, May 11, 7 pm
Where: Lucky Dog Books, 633 W. Davis, 214-941-2665

Speaking to us from the woods and the cottage, from the marriage bed, the hospital bed, the writing group and the camps at Dachau, the forty-eight poets in this anthology of poems based on traditional fairy tales, edited by DFW poet and longtime fairy tale enthusiast Anita M. Barnard, bring their personal worlds to the fairy tale and the fairy tale out into the world at large. The reading will feature some of the local poets whose works appear in the book.

New Book: The Wilful Eye (Tales from the Tower)

The Wilful Eye (Tales from the Tower) edited by Isobelle Carmody and Nan McNab was released earlier this month. Originally released in Australia in 2011, it has finally been released here in the US. A companion book, The Wicked Wood (Tales from the Tower), will be released in August.

Book description:

A dozen of the most exciting and unique writers for young people have chosen fairytales as starting points for their own original stories, in this surprising and spellbinding two-volume collection.

Margo Lanagan (Tender Morsels), Rosie Borella, Isobelle Carmody, Richard Harland (Worldshaker), Margaret Mahy (The Seven Chinese Brothers), and Martine Murray (Henrietta There's No One Better) have taken inspiration from stories that have shaped us all, tales like "Beauty and the Beast," "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," and "The Snow Queen." This collection carries universal themes of envy and desire, deception and abandonment, courage and sacrifice. Characters are enchanted, they transgress, they yearn, they hunger, they hate, and, sometimes, they kill. Some of the stories inhabit a traditional fairytale world, while others are set in the distant future. Some are set in the present and some in an alternative present. The stories offer no prescription for living or moral advice and none belong in a nursery. Open the covers and submit to their enchantment.

And from the publisher's site:

Six of the world's most exciting and best-loved writers have chosen fairytales as inspiration for this spellbinding and subversive short-story collection.

Six writers - Margo Lanagan, Rosie Borella, Isobelle Carmody, Richard Harland, Margaret Mahy and Martine Murray - have taken inspiration from stories that have shaped us all, tales like 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'The Steadfast Tin Soldier' and 'The Snow Queen'. This collection carries universal themes of envy and desire, deception and abandonment, courage and sacrifice.

Characters are enchanted, they transgress, they yearn, they hunger, they hate and, sometimes, they kill.

Some of the stories inhabit a traditional fairytale world, while others are set in the distant future. Some are set in the present and some in an alternative present. The stories offer no prescription for living or moral advice and none belong in a nursery.

Open the covers and submit to their enchantment.

New Book: Nameless: A Tale of Beauty and Madness (Tales of Beauty and Madness) by Lili St. Crow

Nameless: A Tale of Beauty and Madness (Tales of Beauty and Madness) by Lili St. Crow was released last week. So I'm a few days late on this one! But it sounds like an interesting Snow White retelling which we haven't had that many of recently considering the Snow White boom of the past few years in Hollywood.

Book description:

When Camille was six years old, she was discovered alone in the snow by Enrico Vultusino, godfather of the Seven—the powerful Families that rule magic-ridden New Haven. Papa Vultusino adopted the mute, scarred child, naming her after his dead wife and raising her in luxury on Haven Hill alongside his own son, Nico.

Now Cami is turning sixteen. She’s no longer mute, though she keeps her faded scars hidden under her school uniform, and though she opens up only to her two best friends, Ruby and Ellie, and to Nico, who has become more than a brother to her. But even though Cami is a pampered Vultusino heiress, she knows that she is not really Family. Unlike them, she is a mortal with a past that lies buried in trauma. And it’s not until she meets the mysterious Tor, who reveals scars of his own, that Cami begins to uncover the secrets of her birth…to find out where she comes from and why her past is threatening her now.

New York Times bestselling author Lili St. Crow thrilled legions of fans with her dark paranormal series Strange Angels. Now she has crafted an evocative update of Snow White, set in a vividly imagined world and populated by unforgettable new characters.

New Book: Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff

Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff is released this week. This is Shurtliff's first book and has been well-reviewed so far. It obviously draws inspiration from Rumpelstiltskin.

Book description:

In a magical kingdom where your name is your destiny, 12-year-old Rump is the butt of everyone's joke.

But when he finds an old spinning wheel, his luck seems to change. Rump discovers he has a gift for spinning straw into gold—as much gold as he wants! His best friend, Red Riding Hood, warns him that magic is dangerous, and she’s right. With each thread he spins, he weaves himself deeper into a curse.

To break the spell, Rump must go on a perilous quest, fighting off pixies, trolls, poison apples, and a wickedly foolish queen. The odds are against him, but with courage and friendship—and a cheeky sense of humor—he just might triumph in the end.

New Book: Frogged by Vivian Vande Velde

Frogged by Vivian Vande Velde is released this week. I've lost count of Velde's fairy tale retellings from novels to short stories, she's been doing it well for many years beginning with Tales from the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird (Magic Carpet Books).

Book description:

One should be able to say of a princess “She was as good as she was beautiful,” according to The Art of Being a Princess (third revised edition), which the almost-thirteen-year-old Princess Imogene is supposed to be reading. Not feeling particularly good, or all that beautiful, she heads for a nearby pond, where, unfortunately, a talking frog tricks her into kissing him. No prince appears, as one might expect. Instead, the princess turns into a frog herself! Thus launches a funny, wonderfully spun fractured fairy tale in which Imogene wonders if she will be forever frogified.

Bargain Ebooks: Marissa Meyer's Cinder and Scarlet

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles) and Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer have been temporarily discounted, probably this weekend only, to $4.99 in ebook format for Kindle and Nook. My links are to Kindle editions, but you can find them on B&N, too. B&N has their top 1,000 Nook books on sale this weekend only and many are being price matched on Amazon. I'll share them as I see them. There goes my book budget for the month. Darn. :)

Cinder Book Description:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Scarlet Book Description:

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison--even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Pottery Barn Kids: Princess and the Pea Bedding

Last year I shared Pottery Barn's Grace sheeting design, which they still have so it must be popular, which has a Frog Prince theme. This year they are also offering the Phoebe design which is Princess and the Pea.

The picture isn't great, but you can see that stack of mattresses. Which I am a sucker for. These also go with the dolls I posted earlier today, but I posted separately since this is decor and those were toys (that can be decor) but we won't quibble.

From the Pottery Barn Kids site:

These storybook-style sheets are big on color, fun and playful princesses. Inspired by the classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, they feature humorous scenes in a kid-friendly array of hues and patterns.

This copywriter credits Hans Christian Andersen, bless him/her!