SmartGames Fairy Tales Themed Games: Activities During Corona

So these games look fun even if they are meant for the youngest gamers. I love the designs, especially the Sleeping Beauty maze which makes me think of garden labyrinths, of course. And is suitable to the tale's theme with the prince trying to navigate the thorns to reach the castle.

SmartGames Sleeping Beauty Board Game Description:

Discover the magic of the classic fairy tale with this original puzzle game. Can you help the prince reach Sleeping Beauty’s castle? Or maybe you’d prefer to help Sleeping Beauty escape on her own? Try to find the path from the entrance of the maze to the castle…without getting lost! Or perhaps you prefer to play as the dragon? Then the object of the game becomes the opposite! Place the dragon in the maze so that he blocks all paths to the castle, preventing and the knight and Sleeping Beauty from reaching each other. Sleeping Beauty includes 48 challenges (24 with the dragon and 24 without). It also features a family friendly picture book with a modern twist on the original story.

SmartGames Little Red Riding Hood Deluxe Board Game Description:

SmartGames Little Red Riding Hood is an enchanting puzzle game for young children. Can you help Red Riding Hood find Grandma’s house in the forest? Can you out-smart the wolf when he appears?

Play Little Red Riding Hood by arranging the puzzle pieces on the gameboard so that a direct path is created from Red Riding Hood to Grandma's house. Then, in the last 24 challenges, players have to create two paths: one for Red Riding Hood, and the other for the Wolf! A great introduction to Spatial Insight, Planning and Problem-Solving skills for kids.

Little Red Riding Hood also includes a family-friendly picture book with a SmartGames 'twist' on the original tale.

SmartGames Snow White Description:

• DEDUCTION FUN! Can you find out where Snow White goes? SmartGames Snow White Game, A Preschool Puzzle Game & Brain Game for Kids, Cognitive Skill-Building Challenges, Ages 4-7
• BRAIN GAMES BUILD SKILLS: Your children can build upon their spatial insight, language, problem solving and flexible thinking while playing the Snow White preschool board game. It’s so fun to play, they’ll forget they’re learning!
• PUZZLE INCLUDES: Large vertical house/game board, Snow White, Seven Dwarfs, Evil Queen, challenge booklet with solutions and a bonu colorful picture book.
• AGES 4-7: Snow White is perfect for kids ages 4-7. With the 4 different skill levels of Starter, Junior, Expert, and Master, your little one is sure to find the perfect challenges to tease their brain and help them think outside the box.
• AWARD-WINNING: SmartGames is the worldwide leader in multi-level, logic-based family fun games. Our award-winning games offer multi-level play from easy to challenging, and we pride ourselves in making family board games that are perfect for players of all ages.

SmartGames Three Little Piggies Description:

Can you help these three smart pigs build their houses? Can you set them up so that the pigs can play outside? If you spot the wolf can you help the pigs stay safe inside their houses?

Three Little Piggies is a great brain game for young children. It features 3 big puzzle pieces that are easy to hold, and kids will be intrigued by the way the pigs fit inside the houses and look through the windows. The game includes a story book with images and booklet with 48 challenges (24 with the wolf and 24 without). Also helps develop early Spatial Insight, Planning and Problem-Solving skills.

SurLaLune's Small Print:

As an Amazon Associate, the SurLaLune Fairy Tale site earns a percentage from qualifying purchases as a referral incentive which helps support the site. Your cost does not increase by using the links on this site. Read SurLaLune's Privacy Policy here.

Storybook Playsets: Activities During Corona--With Thoughts on SurLaLune Changes on Horizon

I've had the Hansel and Gretel Toy House and Storybook Playset and the others below in my list for posting for a while. I really love the design on all of these, but the Hansel and Gretel is my favorite. All of the candy and the oven right there front and center in the house design makes me cringe and smile. The other two sets are much more innocuous but also pretty, too. I like the Three Bears' house, too.

And don't worry, like yesterday's Princess and the Pea craft, as I share ideas for fairy tale related activities they are not all going to require a purchase. I know economic hardships are going to be one of the biggest challenges for many during this time. And the activities won't all be for kids--or those of us with kid-like hearts for playing with playsets, making crafts, etc.

In fact, I have some ideas of how to allow for volunteer work with getting the new SurLaLune Fairy Tales Database  more populated. I just need to ponder some logistics on that and will share some ideas next week. These are interesting times we live in and I am finding actually one of the things I miss most is the opportunity to do service. I am putting that energy into SurLaLune again after a long year of grief and other distractions. I am determined for this pandemic to bring about some blessings, too. The opportunity to spend some time finishing my current books that have been nearly done for almost two years now and finally getting the new SurLaLune website ready for launch. Good times ahead for those who use the SurLaLune site.

STORYTIME TOYS The Three Little Pigs and Bad Wolf, Book and Toy Set

STORYTIME TOYS Goldilocks and The Three Bears Book and Toy Set

SurLaLune's Small Print:

As an Amazon Associate, the SurLaLune Fairy Tale site earns a percentage from qualifying purchases as a referral incentive which helps support the site. Your cost does not increase by using the links on this site. Read SurLaLune's Privacy Policy here.

Family Moment: The Three Little Rigs by David Gordon

So last week I gained a very great affection for The Three Little Rigs by David Gordon. Why? Family, of course.

About once a month, I take a small suitcase filled with books and puppets and such to visit my sister's family. Kensie and Clark, my niece and nephew, are 6 and 3 years old, so Clark is overall more interested in most of the books and puppets these days since Kensie is aging out on some of the younger books for now. (Not that I ever did.) She loves books, bless her parents who have been literally reading to her every day since the day she was born, and this visit coincided with her birthday. She was as excited about the books I gave her as any of her other gifts. She and I had some fine reading moments that day, too, but this is about Clark this time.

(I found this image of my bag online--this is for sale for a crazy price, but this is what my storytime bag looks like. Lots of fun pockets for treasures and plenty of space for books without breaking my back. I love it and so do the kids.)

Clark is all boy and his attention span is getting shorter although he is a great reader, too. But he likes to be on the move. And he loves, loves, LOVES vehicles of all kinds. So I have peppered my offerings with various books over the last year. In the fall, I added The Three Little Rigs to my bag. We have read it about three times together now. Problem is, I wasn't sure if he was enjoying it. I had removed all of the regular books from my bag to make room for holiday titles. And The Three Little Rigs failed to make it back in the bag this month. I had reshelved it and forgotten it.

So Clark and I read about three books when he went digging in my bag again and looked up at me with a plaintive look in his eyes. "I want the Big Bad Wrecking Ball," he said. I looked back at him blankly for a few seconds before it hit me he was requesting this book. He hadn't had it read to him in over two months, but he remembered it and requested it. I was suddenly just as disappointed as he was that it wasn't in my bag.

So if you have a child in your life who loves, loves, LOVES vehicles I also recommend this one. It is still in print and a reasonable price. David Gordon also wrote Hansel and Diesel and The Ugly Truckling which I didn't own but have now ordered so I have them to share with Clark when I see him again later this month. They are out of print so their prices fluctuate wildly.

And, yes, the first time we read it, Clark understood perfectly well that this was a Three Little Pigs story. He prefers this version though because VEHICLES. I always make sure there are fairy tales on offer in my bag but that isn't all I add. So it is a sweet moment for me when the fairy tales are beloved by the kids, too.

Book description:

"Little rig, little rig, let me come in!"
"Not by the chrome on my chinny chin chin."

"Then I’ll crash and I’ll bash and I’ll smash your house in."

When the three little rigs set out to build their own garages, each one thinks that his is going to be the strongest. But then the big bad wrecking ball comes to call and threatens to smash their new homes to smithereens. The brothers learn that it’s only by bravery and teamwork that they can win the day. A comic sequel to the ugly truckling.

Crafty Friday: Amigurumi Fairy Tales - Crochet Your Own Enchanted Forest by Tessa van Riet-Ernst

Amigurumi Fairy Tales - Crochet Your Own Enchanted Forest by Tessa van Riet-Ernst was released this year.

As always, pictures speak louder than words when it comes to crafts. You can click on the images below to see them larger.

Book description:

Amigurumi-expert and fairy tale lover Tessa van Riet-Ernst puts numerous world famous fairy tale characters in a new crochet jacket. Of course Tessa put a bit of herself in there as well. The big bad wolf is secretly a softy, but he tries to look more dangerous by wearing a spiky collar. And Prince Charming is still not sure which princess stole his heart: the lovely Snow White or Cinderella. Or maybe Rapunzel, with her beautiful long hair? Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood, the seven goats, the ugly duckling and the three little pigs all play a leading role.

This book contains 8 world famous stories and more than 20 new patterns. Projects ranging from beginner to advanced crocheter. Find complete instructions for all basic stitches needed and lots of pictures of each character from all sides.

Sunday Funny: Some Fairy Tales from Tundra Comics

Some fairy tale comics today from Tundra Comics. The Hansel and Gretel one above is by far my favorite of the three. How about you?

Fairy Tales in Advertising: Submarino.com: Fairy Tale

Submarino.com: Fairy Tale

Would you like to hear a story?

Okay, you have to click on this one to make it larger and see all of the glorious detail--and the full uncropped image since it is cropped in this post.

Then you can also play a game with yourself of "Name That Fair Tale." I did. And it was fun. And if I listened to audio books I would want to buy them from here because I love the ad. It was that happy for me. I see just to start: Rapunzel, Three Little Pigs, Little Mermaid, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and more, much more...

Campaign info from Ads of the World:

Audiobooks available at Submarino
Advertising Agency: DM9Rio, Brazil
Creative Directors: Alvaro Rodrigues, Diogo Mello
Creatives: Guilherme Cunha, Otto Pajunk, Diogo Mello
Contact: Polika Teixeira, Marcia Aguiar
Illustrators: Studio D'Ávila, Magma, Firegrader

Two Bargain Ebooks: George's Princess of the Midnight Ball and Wiesner's The Three Pigs

It's March 1st, a new month and a new set of titles in the Kindle Store : Monthly Deals for $3.99 or Less. Two of the books this month are fairy tale inspired. One has been bargain priced previously and one is an old favorite I hadn't thought about in a long while. Princess of the Midnight Ball (Twelve Dancing Princesses Book 1) by Jessica Day George has been on sale before but if you don't own it yet, it is certainly worthy of the $1.99 needed to make it yours. It's usually in the $6 range.

The other title is The Three Pigs (Caldecott Medal Book) by David Wiesner, winner of a Caldecott Medal, so yes, this will be a digital picture book for $1.99. I adore this book and think I should post about it soon since it was first published long before this blog was begun. Not SurLaLune mind you, but the blog portion, yes. It is 14 years old and I was so thrilled when it won the medal. Happy thoughts as I think about it... Looking at it again is like catching up with an old, long lost friend and not needing Facebook to make that happen. Yes, it will get it's own post soon. Cause I will enjoy doing it.

Book description for Princess of the Midnight Ball (Twelve Dancing Princesses Book 1):

Rose is one of twelve princesses forced to dance through the night in an underground palace. The key to breaking the spell lies in magic knitting needles, an invisibility cloak, and-of course-true love. Inspired by "The Twelve Dancing Princesses,"this novel is as captivating as it is fresh. Enchanted readers are sure to clamor for the new companion, Princess of Glass, also published.

New Release: Big Bad Detective Agency by Bruce Hale

(US/UK Links)

Big Bad Detective Agency by Bruce Hale is released this week in both the US and UK. See Big Bad Detective Agency (UK Link).

This is the start of a new series by Bruce Hale whose Chet Gecko series I used to recommend to kids a lot back when I worked in a library

Book description:

From the comic genius behind CHET GECKO comes a new kind of fairy tale hero -- and a big, bad, crime-solving adventure!

The houses of all Three (not-so-) Little Pigs were broken into and ransacked, and the Pigs are squealing for justice. So Prince Tyrone, ruler of Fairylandia, drags in the obvious suspect: Wolfgang.

The lone wolf has big teeth, sharp claws, no alibi -- and a single day to find the real culprit and clear his big bad name. When Wolf (reluctantly) teams up with the fourth Little Pig to crack the case, the Big Bad Detective Agency -- and an adventure way funnier than your average fairy tale -- is off to a howling start!