SurLaLune's September Giveaway

Life got in the way of the blog last week and so I'm behind on several posts. Fortunately, many will keep, but I still need to announce this month's giveaway!

For the month of September, I will be giving away one copy of Fairy Tales Reimagined edited by Susan Redington Bobby. I previously posted about the book back in August. With school starting back for many, I thought an academic book would be a nice prize for one of our readers, many of whom are students and professors.

I will accept entries--one per person--through midnight on October 1, 2009. I will pick a random winner and announce it here on Friday, October 2, 2009. Then I will announce another giveaway soon after. This giveaway is open to international readers, not just stateside like the nail polish giveaway.

Magic Flutes and Enchanted Forests

Magic Flutes and Enchanted Forests: The Supernatural in Eighteenth-Century Musical Theater by David J. Buch came out last December but has remained under my radar until this past week when I found a recent review for it by Judith Malafronte at the California Chronicle.

Judging from the review and the description--I have not seen this book to review it in person but still want to spread the news--this looks like a wonderful reference for information on 18th century musical theatre, from the obscure to the pieces that remain popular today, including fairy tale influenced works.

Here's the book description from the publisher first:

Drawing on hundreds of operas, singspiels, ballets, and plays with supernatural themes, Magic Flutes and Enchanted Forests argues that the tension between fantasy and Enlightenment-era rationality shaped some of the most important works of eighteenth-century musical theater and profoundly influenced how audiences and critics responded to them.

David J. Buch reveals that despite—and perhaps even because of—their fundamental irrationality, fantastic and exotic themes acquired extraordinary force and popularity during the period, pervading theatrical works with music in the French, German, and Italian mainstream. Considering prominent compositions by Gluck, Rameau, and Haydn, as well as many seminal contributions by lesser-known artists, Buch locates the origins of these magical elements in such historical sources as ancient mythology, European fairy tales, the Arabian Nights, and the occult. He concludes with a brilliant excavation of the supernatural roots of Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni, building a new foundation for our understanding of the magical themes that proliferated in Mozart’s wake.

Malafronte's review is very positive and informational. I'll quote the first paragraph here, but please click through to read it in its entirety.

When David J. Buch states that the last book about supernatural elements in musical theater - a short German doctoral dissertation that deals with a few specific fairy-tale operas - dates from 1896, one has to wonder why no one has since taken up this fascinating topic. By the end of Buch's masterful, 450-page Magic Flutes and Enchanted Forests: The Supernatural in Eighteenth-Century Musical Theater, one knows why. The mountain of material - librettos, archives, unpublished and unedited scores of French, Italian, English and German operas, ballets, pantomimes and other shows - would daunt all but the most intrepid researcher.

Ultimately this appears to be a great reference for students and others interested in the topic or even wanting to write a paper about fairy tales and historical musical theatre. Add it to your acquisitions list if it interests you or ask your favorite librarian to do so for you...

Dragon*Con 2009, Part 1: Book List

I haven't parsed my notes for the Faerie and Fairy Tales panel I sat on, but the list of books we discussed or at least mentioned is long and deserving of its own post. So I am starting with it first since I know that is what any of the attendees will also be looking for first. Hopefully I plan to write about the panel itself within the next day or two.

First, books by the panelists:

Rampant by Diana Peterfreund (Read the first five chapters of RAMPANT, free at HarperTeen.) I haven't read this yet but Diana does some unusual work with unicorns after extensive research of them. These are not cute and sparkly unicorns, but deadly ones. So far her book is receiving great reviews.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater Maggie has also written two faerie books, Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception and Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie.

The Faire Folk Trilogy: Tree Shepherd's Daughter, Into the Wildewood, and The Secret of the Dread Forest by Gillian Summers (Summers is the writing duo Berta Platas & Michelle Roper)

Encountering Enchantment: A Guide to Speculative Fiction for Teens by Susan Fichtelberg

Steve Berman was also on the panel but wasn't promoting a specific book. You can see his list of works on his author page on Amazon. His short story, Bittersweet, a retelling of the Gingerbread Man, also provided a fun SurLaLune related story on the panel which I'll relate tomorrow.

Now for books at least mentioned or even discussed:

A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Rumpelstiltskin)

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan (Snow White and Rose Red)

Ash by Malinda Lo (Cinderella)

The Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli (Hansel and Gretel)

The Rose and The Beast: Fairy Tales Retold by Francesca Lia Block (multiple stories)

Kissing the Witch by Emma Donoghue (multiple stories)

Into the Wild, Out of the Wild, and Ice by Sarah Beth Durst

Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie by Holly Black (Beauty and the Beast)

Beastly and A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn

Lips Touch by Laini Taylor

Wicked Lovely Melissa Marr

Works of Lloyd Alexander, especially The Chronicles of Prydain

Anthologies edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Simon Pulse's Once Upon a Time Series

Cameron Dokey's Winter's Child, a retelling of The Snow Queen, is released today as the latest in the Once Upon a Time Series by Simon Pulse. Here's the product description:

Free-spirited Grace and serious Kai are the best of friends. They grew up together listening to magical tales spun by Kai's grandmother and sharing in each other's secrets. But when they turn sixteen and Kai declares his love for Grace, everything changes. Grace yearns for freedom and slowly begins to push Kai -- and their friendship -- away.

Dejected Kai dreams of a dazzling Snow Queen, who entices him to leave home and wander to faraway lands. When Grace discovers Kai is gone, she learns how much she has lost and sets out on a mystical journey to find Kai...and discover herself.

Here's also a link to an article by Allison Fuhrman about the series: Fairy tale retellings. And a sample chapter is available on the Simon Pulse website at Winter's Child.

The Simon Pulse series has been around for several years now (since 2002). The covers are receiving a makeover--no more lush paintings by Kinuko Y. Craft which I miss. The new covers provide stronger hints as to which fairy tales are hidden inside, however. With 18 titles so far, this is an enduring series and I'm glad it continues to do so well for fairy tales. Overall the novels have been very creative in their interpretations within the confines of the series' expectations.

The next installment (#18) will be available in February 2010. Violet Eyes by Debbie Viguie intrigues me since it will be a novel-length retelling of Princess and the Pea. Gail Carson Levine wrote one with her The Princess Test for middle readers but that is really novella length at most. There's also been some romance novels, too. I have a short list available here: Princess and the Pea Romance Novels. But overall, Princess and the Pea, perhaps the shortest of the popular fairy tales, doesn't receive novelization treatment very often.

Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2013

This is slightly off topic but still somewhat relevant since one of SurLaLune's primary audiences is students. Their teachers are another primary audience.

The Beloit College Mindset List for has been published every year since 1998, since the year I started SurLaLune as a grad student as a matter of fact. The list for the Class of 2013 is now available and I wanted to share the link here.

Of particular interest here for me are:

4. They have never used a card catalog to find a book.

34. They have always been able to read books on an electronic screen.

Many of the items on the list were never a large part of my life or part of my awareness either, but the list still reminds me of the differences we face with each generation's experiences.

I might add that the Disney version of Belle and Beast surrounded by objects singing "Be My Guest" have always existed for this group, too. We might argue that all of the Disney fairy tales have always existed in their minds although Aladdin was released when they were only a year old or less. (Well, some will argue for Mulan released in 1998, but that isn't as much fairy tale as folk legend IMHO and doesn't receive the same of kind of Disney princesses treatment.)

And as yet another year of students accustomed to using the internet first for research, SurLaLune hopes to assist that work with reliable, helpful and well-organized information this school year, too.

Sleeping in the Enchanted Forest

Now this bed would never work in my current home, but I would love the opportunity to at least sleep in it and dream fairy tale dreams. (The skull over the bed would HAVE to go first though. I once tried to fall asleep under a mounted deer head and absolutely failed.)

The bed was designed and apparently already sold by Attila Design so someone gets to sleep in it, just not me. I found this via LA Wedding Trends Examiner by Ilane Foo. Attila Designs has some other slightly fairy tale influenced work, but nothing else was as stunning as this.

Dragon*Con Appearance this weekend

If you are attending Dragon*Con in Atlanta this weekend, I will be one of the guests on the panel for a discussion of Faeries and Fairy Tales.

Saturday, 09/05/09 08:30 PM

Faeries and Fairy Tales

Something old, something new, something borrowed and something Blue Fairy? What bits of mythology, folklore, and fairy tales are in stories today?

Guests: Susan Fichtelberg, Maggie Stiefvater, Gillian Summers (Berta Platas & Michelle Roper), Steve Berman and Heidi Anne Heiner

Stop by if you are there and I will report on the panel here when I get a chance for those who won't be there.

Ash by Malinda Lo

The internet is buzzing with the newest fairy tale novel for young adults released this week, Ash by Malinda Lo. I haven't had the opportunity to read it yet and probably won't for a while since this past week's illness has put me way behind on my own deadlines.

Ash is somewhat different since it is to my knowledge the first novel length fairy tale redaction marketed to young adults in which the heroine enters a lesbian relationship. There will be controversy which this blog doesn't intend to enter. Keep it nice in the comments, folks. I will delete incendiary stuff because in the end, I am queen of this little domain which I intend to keep neutral. (Between this and Margo Lanagan's Tender Morsels, it's been a busy year for controversial envelope pushing in YA fairy tale novels.) Of course, Kissing the Witch by Emma Donoghue already visited this territory several years ago in 1997 with a collection of short stories, but once again, this is the first mainstream full length YA novel.

Publisher's Weekly had a brief review of the book on their site which will eventually appear on Amazon, too, I imagine. Here it is since you have to page down to find it on the brief reviews page:

This debut, a retelling of Cinderella in which the heroine falls in love with a beautiful huntress rather than a prince, should establish Lo as a gifted storyteller. Aisling, aka Ash, is newly orphaned, her beloved mother dead and her father soon to follow. But not before he marries the woman who plays the part of Ash's wicked stepmother and provides her with equally unkind stepsisters. Only Ash's periodic trips into a fairy-filled wood at night and time spent with the beguiling huntress Kaisa—who enthralls Ash more and more—save her from her oppressive new existence. Lo's prose is beautiful, her descriptions lush; the novel's one flaw is that the third-person narrative keeps readers at arm's length. The dialogue is sparse, with Lo spending most of her time on narration, making it difficult to connect emotionally with Ash. This aside, Lo offers an important twist on a classic story that will appeal to a wide readership, especially those looking for a girl romance. Ages 15–up.

Once Upon a Blog has already posted about this book earlier this week and provided great links to a sample chapter and Lo's blog.

That said, I think the cover is one of the best ever for a Cinderella book and I doubt it's an accident since it resembles the cover of the first book of another bestselling series...at first glance it does which is all that is needed for a second glance.

The Fairest

I admit my entire purpose for posting this is that I fell in love with the logo, pictured above. But it still counts as fairy tale related and I'll loosely categorize it under advertising, fashion and makeup, too. The logo is for a new site that I stumbled across. Here's a quote from All Lacquered Up blog's description of the site which was the best I found with a quick search to learn what this was all about:

If you're a fan of sample sale sites like Gilt, Ideeli and HauteLook you may have wondered when a beauty focused version would come along. Well wonder no more because launching today is The Fairest! With prices up to 75% off of retail, The Fairest brings you some of the biggest names in beauty at drastically low prices via their limited time sales events.

There's also an accompanying blog, Who's the Fairest? I love the logo (very Rackhamesque) and the referencing to Snow White.

In the News: The Economics of Fairy Tales

Don't miss The Economics of Fairy Tales by economist Edward L. Glaeser in The New York Times today. He actually discusses fairy tales, not just using the term loosely in a pop culture sense. Short, fun and a little insightful. The topic would also make a great jumping point for a term paper...

The first paragraph....

If you are an economics-minded parent of young children, like me, then you may also have spent long hours wondering how to teach economics to your toddlers. Luckily, much-loved children stories can be made far more delightful with a healthy dose of supply-and-demand charts. Many such tales already include their own hidden economic messages that only need to be exposed to bring edification and enjoyment to the under-5 set.

On that note, I'm still recovering from illness but I have much more to post in the coming days and weeks...

Lauren Child's Goldilocks and the Three Bears

This week, the Wall Street Journal reviewed Lauren Child's latest fairy tale interpretation, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, giving it high marks which I never doubted anyway.

Now I am big fan of Lauren Child, whether she is having fun with fairy tales or otherwise. I own most of her Charlie and Lola books and DVDs, I admit. ("I have this little sister, Lola. She's small and very funny.") So in other words, I rather adore Child's work. Charlie is my hero and Lola, well, I wish I had been more like her as a child except that I adore tomatoes and always have. I'm an oldest, so I am more like Charlie. Anyway, back to the fairy tales.


I haven't seen the new picture book yet, but I know I will acquire it soon. It will be very hard to be disappointed in it, so I'm not worried. After all, I already own the others including The Princess and the Pea, Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Book?, and Beware Of The Storybook Wolves. (Which is almost out of print stateside! No!)


All of these books have humor that thrills children and keeps their adults equally entertained. From the prose to the clever illustrations using collages of photography, drawings and other media, these are always great books.


So really, start your Christmas list early or go ahead and get these for your favorite child now, if you don't have them yet, even if that child is you because I can't praise them enough. The biggest complaint is that the design and font choices makes the text somewhat harder to read for beginning readers and sometimes for the first read through for adults. They are not the easiest books for a large storytime audience. But they are worth it.

And if we buy them, she will create more. It's a win-win all around.

Copenhagen’s ‘Little Mermaid’ will swim to Shanghai

According to the LA Times, Copenhagen’s ‘Little Mermaid’ will swim to Shanghai next year, so you will have to go to Shanghai instead of Copenhagen to see the statue. That's a very generous exchange.

“The Little Mermaid” statue, sculpted by Edvard Erichsen and inspired by a fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen, has been the symbol of Copenhagen since she was placed in the harbor in 1913. But don’t look for her there from April to November of next year because she’s going to Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

The beloved statue will grace the Mermaid Pool in the Danish Pavilion during the Shanghai world event while a sculpture by a Chinese artist stands in for her in Copenhagen.