Bargain Ebook: A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale by by Liz Braswell for $1.99

A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale by by Liz Braswell is on sale today only for $1.99 down from a usual range of $10. This is a novel retelling Aladdin--the Disney version--from with dark twists, part of a series by Braswell for the Disney imprint that retells many Disney fairy tales. Oh, the layers of folklore manipulation!

Book description:

What if Aladdin had never found the lamp? This first book in the A Twisted Tale line will explore a dark and daring version of Disney's Aladdin. When Jafar steals the Genie's lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish.To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war. What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.

Bargain Ebook: Smoke and Mirrors (Magic Men Mysteries) by Elly Griffiths

Smoke and Mirrors (Magic Men Mysteries) by Elly Griffiths is a book I haven't featured here on the blog yet. It also happens today to be bargain priced in ebook format for $2.99.

Rather unusual here at SurLaLune, it's the second book in a murder mystery series. The plot offers a killer inspired by fairy tales, especially Hansel and Gretel and Aladdin. Fairy tales are not part of the first book in the series, Zig Zag Girl, but magic is part of the world building with one of the detectives a magician. Intrigued yet? Murder mysteries with fairy tale references are not that unusual but this particular mix is one of the most original combination of elements I've seen in a while. There's also a 1950s setting and a pantomime, very British. And the second book is slightly better reviewed than the first in the series, too.

Book description:

In the sequel to the "captivating" Zig Zag Girl, DI Edgar Stephens and the magician Max Mephisto hunt for a killer after two children are murdered in a tragic tableau of a very grim fairy tale.

It’s Christmastime in Brighton, and the city is abuzz about a local production of Aladdin, starring the marvelous Max Mephisto. But the holiday cheer is lost on DI Edgar Stephens. He’s investigating the murder of two children, Annie and Mark, who were strangled to death in the woods, abandoned alongside a trail of candy—a horrifying scene eerily reminiscent of Hansel and Gretel.

Edgar has plenty of leads to investigate. Annie, a surprisingly dark child, used to write gruesome plays based on the Grimms' fairy tales. Does the key to the case lie in her unfinished final script? Or does the macabre staging of Annie and Mark’s deaths point to the theater and the capricious cast of characters performing in Aladdin? Once again Edgar enlists Max's help in penetrating the shadowy world of the theater. But is this all just classic misdirection?

New Book: A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale by Liz Braswell

A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale by Liz Braswell is a new release this month. This is part of the newish subgenre of reimagined Disney versions of fairy tales. I am rather interested in the papers that are going to come out this recent subgenre. Nothing like Disney to be self aware enough to go this direction in book publishing. And then there's the whole dichotomy of Disney fairy tales being the most familiar versions of fairy tales for modern generations when the beauty of fairy tales is their diversity and nuances across cultures and tellers.

This one has not been well-reviewed by readers actually. Interesting to observe...

Book description:

What if Aladdin had never found the lamp? This first book in the A Twisted Tale line will explore a dark and daring version of Disney's Aladdin.

When Jafar steals the Genie's lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish. To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war.

What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.

Praise for A Whole New World:

"A magic carpet ride of a book! A fun and unpredictable retelling of the classic Aladdin story, a must-read for all of us Disney fans!" -Melissa de la Cruz

Fairy Tale Reverso Poems for National Poetry Month

Has it really been FIVE years since Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reverso Poems by Marilyn Singer was released? I was contemplating poetry posts since April is National Poetry Month and many favorites came to mind. Then I remembered Singer's work and got all sparkly thoughts again. This book and the companion book, Follow Follow: A Book of Reverso Poems, are favorites on my fairy tale poetry shelf. I have some sample pages from the second book below with some of the reverso poems to read. Reversos are poems that read backward and forwards (by lines) with some punctuation changes and doing so reverses their meanings and/or perspectives, too. They are so clever and fun and I adore these.

And the illustrations by Josee Masse fit the illustrations perfectly and colorfully. These should be owned in hardcover. It's the best way to enjoy them and that's from a confirmed ebook addict.

Publisher's description for Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reverso Poems:

What’s brewing when two favorites—poetry and fairy tales—are turned (literally) on their heads? It’s a revolutionary recipe: an infectious new genre of poetry and a lovably modern take on classic stories.

First, read the poems forward (how old-fashioned!), then reverse the lines and read again to give familiar tales, from Sleeping Beauty to that Charming Prince, a delicious new spin. Witty, irreverent, and warm, this gorgeously illustrated and utterly unique offering holds a mirror up to language and fairy tales, and renews the fun and magic of both.

Images from Follow Follow: A Book of Reverso Poems. You can click on the image to get a larger version for easier viewing:

The Dragon & the Knight: A Pop-up Misadventure by Robert Sabuda

The Dragon & the Knight: A Pop-up Misadventure by Robert Sabuda was released this week. Don't bother to read what I have to say, just go buy it now. That's what I do whenever I see a new book released by either Sabuda or his partner Matthew Reinhart (whose proposed Sleeping Beauty has been MIA for a few years now, but oh well).

In other words, Sabuda and Reinhart are autobuys for me. I love pop-up books and they are two masters in the field. I preordered The Dragon & the Knight: A Pop-up Misadventure much earlier this year and didn't even really look at the vague description available then. Didn't much care. Just knew I wanted it. So when the book arrived on my doorstep this week, imagine my surprise to see that it actually belonged on SurLaLune when I looked at its pages.

Book description:

All of your favorite fairy tale characters come together in this original pop-up masterpiece, from expert craftsman Robert Sabuda.

In this brand-new pop-up adventure, a Dragon and a Knight race through a fairy tale treasury, visiting the worlds of all of your favorite stories—from Rapunzel to Aladdin, to Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs, and more! With characters who literally pop right off the pages, this tour de force will have readers young and old speeding through the book to see just how this chase will end!

Robert Sabuda has created a unique pop-up experience, bringing readers into a story via a 3-D journey. It’s a true masterpiece from the master!

I don't even remember fairy tales being mentioned in the description when I ordered it. Several are found within, but not really to enjoy for reading, but for viewing. Essentially, a dragon and knight race through the fairy tale book with unexpected and increasingly messy results that mean fun for us the reader/viewer. And while the pop-ups in his books are always enjoyable for all ages, this book actually has very little readable text, so it reads well with little ones, too, unlike some of the other pop-up fairy tale offerings available. The pop-ups are surprising but there is an extra twist ending, too, which will delight readers. And make you wonder about your assumptions at times.

Since this is technically a fractured fairy tales book, a knowledge of fairy tales will help for young readers but even a basic familiarity with Disney versions of the tales will suffice. And it's fun to have Aladdin represented in a book like this, too, where it seldom is. Its illustration is most reminiscent of Disney, actually as you can see in the image I am sharing here.

There are also spreads for Rapunzel and Snow White, not pictured here, which were two of my favorites as well as the final pages which cannot be revealed here to avoid ruining the twist ending.

Overall, a great gift book for the holidays for young or old. Young children will enjoy but it's fragile so they will need supervision. It's also stunning how low priced the book is for the level of paper engineering required to produce it. I am trying to decide who on my holiday and birthday lists will enjoy it most.

New Book: The Fairies Return: Or, New Tales for Old (Oddly Modern Fairy Tales)

The Fairies Return: Or, New Tales for Old (Oddly Modern Fairy Tales) is officially released today although it has been shipping for a few weeks, I think. I received a review copy of this one from the publisher and realized I was completely unaware of the original edition. How did I miss that? It's a happy addition to my folklore library, of course.

The stories, oddly enough, reminded the most of the work of Anne Thackeray Ritchie who set her own fairy tale retellings in her current times without the magic or fantasy. There is about a fifty year gap between her work and the stories collected here which makes it all an interesting study of Britain's literary history, too. Her work is historical fiction now just as these collected stories are to us, but it's intriguing to see how past authors used fairy tales in their modern fiction. These tales are much more satirical than Ritchie, too.

Book description:

Originally issued in 1934, The Fairies Return was the first collection of modernist fairy tales ever published in England, and it marked the arrival of a satirical classic that has never been surpassed. Even today, this reimagining of fourteen timeless tales--from "Puss in Boots" to "Little Red Riding Hood"--is still fresh and bold, giving readers a world steeped not in once upon a time, but in the here and now.

Longtime favorites in this playfully subversive collection are retold for modern times and mature sensibilities. In "Jack the Giant Killer," Jack becomes a trickster who must deliver England from the hands of three ogres after a failed government inquiry. "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" is set in contemporary London and the world of financial margins and mergers. In "The Little Mermaid," a young Canadian girl with breathtaking swimming skills is lured by the temptations of Hollywood. And Cinderella becomes a spinster and holy woman, creating a very different happily ever after. These tales expose social anxieties, political corruption, predatory economic behavior, and destructive appetites even as they express hope for a better world. A new introduction from esteemed fairy-tale scholar Maria Tatar puts the collection in context.

From stockbrokers and socialites to shopkeepers and writers, the characters in The Fairies Return face contemporary challenges while living in the magical world of fairy tales.

Peter Davies (1897-1960) was the rumored inspiration for Peter Pan, the daredevil character created by his adoptive father, author J. M. Barrie. Davies was the founder of the publishing house Peter Davies Ltd. Maria Tatar is the John L. Loeb Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures and chair of the Program in Folklore and Mythology at Harvard University. She is the editor of The Annotated Peter Pan and the author of Enchanted Hunters (both Norton), among many other books.

You can read a PDF of Maria Tatar's introduction on the Princeton University Press's website to give you a preview of the book.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction
Maria Tatar
1

Jack the Giant Killer
A. E. Coppard
39

Godfather Death
Clemence Dane
65

The Fisherman and His Wife
E. M. Delafield
95

Little Snow-White
Lord Dunsany
121

Aladdin
Anna Gordon Keown
137

Sindbad the Sailor
Eric Linklater
163

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
A. G. Macdonell
186

Puss in Boots
Helen Simpson
208

The Little Mermaid
Lady Eleanor Smith
228

Little Red Riding-Hood
E. oe. Somerville
249

Cinderella
Robert Speaight
271

'O, If I Could but Shiver!'
Christina Stead
302

The Sleeping Beauty
G. B. Stern
325

Big Claus and Little Claus
R. J. Yeatman and W. C. Sellar
354

Author Biographies 365

And more about the Oddly Modern Fairy Tales edited by Jack Zipes:

Oddly Modern Fairy Tales is a series dedicated to publishing unusual literary fairy tales produced mainly during the first half of the twentieth century. International in scope, the series includes new translations, surprising and unexpected tales by well-known writers and artists, and uncanny stories by gifted yet neglected authors. Postmodern before their time, the tales in Oddly Modern Fairy Tales transformed the genre and still strike a chord.

The Cloak of Dreams: Chinese Fairy Tales (Oddly Modern Fairy Tales). B. Balázs; J. Zipes, et al., eds. and trans.

Lucky Hans and Other Merz Fairy Tales (Oddly Modern Fairy Tales). K. Schwitters.

Mary Engelbreit's Fairy Tales: Twelve Timeless Treasures

If you are looking for a sweetly illustrated collection of fairy tales with many, many illustrations, but definitely not Disney, I would recommend Mary Engelbreit's Fairy Tales: Twelve Timeless Treasures. The book is currently bargain priced at Amazon for $7.80 in hardcover and I am tempted to pick up one or two gift copies myself.

This one is "safe" for the preschool set and will also satisfy parents who are concerned about being too scary too early because this book isn't. Engelbreit brings her brand of humor and sweetness to the illustrations that are not generic like many of the collections that children tend to receive instead. (I think of them as grocery store books.) I think books like this make great bridges between the unadulterated original tales that make parents wary of fairy tales. And the illustrations are vibrant and profuse throughout the collection. And the book should especially appeal to the little girls who adore Disney without giving them all of the Disney merchandise if that is important to you. (I know people to whom it is.)

From Engelbreit's notes:

I wanted to share these timeless stones with children today, but as I read and considered which to include, I realized for the first time how many of the stories ended with the message that marrying a prince is the solution to all of life’s problems. If only that were true! Knowing how independent and free-spirited my daughter Mikayla and her friends are—and wanting to nurture that—I felt it was important to bring out the spirit of dashing adventure in the richly imaginative world that I’d enjoyed as a child. So I decided to edit some of these endings a bit, letting children know it is okay for the princess and her frog to remain friends or that a prince can help with the household chores.

After choosing the twelve tales, I had fun dreaming up the costumes, especially the ball gowns. I based the clothes on styles, decorative patterns, and fabrics from different periods that I like, especially Elizabethan and medieval times.

You can preview the book on Amazon to see the full table of contents and many more illustrations. I shared just a few here to give an impression of Engelbreit's style.

Advertising: Red Bull and Fairy Tales

Frog Prince

I'm not a fan of Red Bull myself and never really cared for these ads, but in the interest of sharing ad campaigns, here they are! At least they went for less of the princess tales and some of the others instead.



Rapunzel



Aladdin

Advertising: Sky TV Spots and Fairy Tales

Frog Prince

I first featured the Princess and the Pea Sky commercial when this blog was fairly new and the ad campaign of Sky fairy tales was brand new. But I have never shared the other spots, so here they all are together. Surprisingly enough, I think the Aladdin is my favorite followed perhaps by Emperor's New Clothes. Red Riding Hood annoyed me with its editing.



Aladdin



Princess and the Pea



Emperor's New Clothes



Little Red Riding Hood

Advertising: Samsung Papyrus Tactile E-reader and Fairy Tales

For: Samsung Papyrus Tactile E-reader
Art Director / Illustrator: Brunstein Nathan

Via Ads of the World.