by Sylvie Geerts (Editor) and Sara Van den Bossche (Editor) has had a significant price drop to $17.37 this morning from it's usual $30 range. That's now 62% off the $46 list price for those wanting simple math. And that's for a paper edition--it's not even available in ebook to my knowledge.The roots of children’s literature are commonly known to lie in adaptation. The texts most frequently adapted for a child audience are either canonised literary works for adults or children’s books which have acquired a high status of their own. In both cases, the stories are adapted to fit the needs of new readers in other contexts. This volume frames adaptation in children’s literature against a broader socio-cultural background, focusing on the ideological implications of the process. Emphasising both diversity and evolution, it deals with oppositional forces and recent trends informing adaptation. At its core are issues of transmediality and new reader roles, adaptations' orientation towards the ideology associated with the pre-text, as well as canonisation of the pre-texts and of the adaptations themselves. The volume is characterised by a broad international and diachronic spread, with topics ranging from traditional Western fairy tale adaptations to retellings of South African oral stories and Persian myths. The evolution discernible in the cases presented neatly illustrates how the process of adaptation allows canonical texts to develop into never-ending stories.
by Kate Forsyth in New Zealand and Australia. It was a fine announcement for those of you who live there but frustrating for those of us who couldn't easily obtain the book. A year later, I was pleased to announce that the book was being released in the UK. Great for those you reading from those shores and a little easier for us in the states--namely me--to obtain the book, but not that easy. 
is finally officially released tomorrow here in North America. With yet another cover, too. This release is in hardcover and ebook and has also sparked a rerelease in hardcover in the UK with the new cover, too. Which makes me a little sad since the original UK cover--the silhouette above--is my personal favorite.
will also be released in July 2015, but we'll focus on Bitter Greens for today.The amazing power and truth of the Rapunzel fairy tale comes alive for the first time in this breathtaking tale of desire, black magic and the redemptive power of love
French novelist Charlotte-Rose de la Force has been banished from the court of Versailles by the Sun King, Louis XIV, after a series of scandalous love affairs. At the convent, she is comforted by an old nun, Sœur Seraphina, who tells her the tale of a young girl who, a hundred years earlier, is sold by her parents for a handful of bitter greens...
After Margherita’s father steals parsley from the walled garden of the courtesan Selena Leonelli, he is threatened with having both hands cut off, unless he and his wife relinquish their precious little girl. Selena is the famous red-haired muse of the artist Tiziano, first painted by him in 1512 and still inspiring him at the time of his death. She is at the center of Renaissance life in Venice, a world of beauty and danger, seduction and betrayal, love and superstition.
Locked away in a tower, Margherita sings in the hope that someone will hear her. One day, a young man does.
Award-winning author Kate Forsyth braids together the stories of Margherita, Selena, and Charlotte-Rose, the woman who penned Rapunzel as we now know it, to create what is a sumptuous historical novel, an enchanting fairy tale retelling, and a loving tribute to the imagination of one remarkable woman.
by Kurt Vonnegut is on sale today only for $1.99 on Amazon as part of their Daily Deals
. It has been on sale before but usually lists in the $7-8 range. I bought it for $1.99 two years ago and I think it has been on sale once since then.Bluebeard, published in 1987, is Vonnegut's meditation on art, artists, surrealism, and disaster. Meet Rabo Karabekian, a moderately successful surrealist painter, who we meet late in life and see struggling (like all of Vonnegut's key characters), with the dregs of unresolved pain and the consequences of brutality. Loosely based on the legend of Bluebeard (best realized in Bela Bartok's one-act opera), the novel follows Karabekian through the last events in his life that is heavy with women, painting, artistic ambition, artistic fraudulence, and as of yet unknown consequence.
Vonnegut's intention here is not so much satirical (although the contemporary art scene would be easy enough to deconstruct), nor is it documentary (although Karabekian does carry elements of Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko). Instead, Vonnegut is using art for the same purpose he used science fiction cliches in Slaughterhouse-Five; as a filter through which he can illuminate the savagery, cruelty, and the essentially comic misdirection of human existence.
Readers will recognize familiar Vonnegut character types and archetypes as they drift in and out through the background; meanwhile, Karabekian, betrayed and betrayer, sinks through a bottomless haze of recollection. Like most of Vonnegut's late works, this is both science fiction and cruel contemporary realism at once, using science fiction as metaphor for human damage as well as failure to perceive. Readers will find that Vonnegut's protagonists can never really clarify for us whether they are ultimately unwitting victims or simple barbarians, leaving it up to the reader to determine in which genre this book really fits, if any at all.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) is one of the most beloved American writers of the twentieth century. Vonnegut's audience increased steadily since his first five pieces in the 1950s and grew from there. His 1968 novel Slaughterhouse-Five has become a canonic war novel with Joseph Heller's Catch-22 to form the truest and darkest of what came from World War II.
Vonnegut began his career as a science fiction writer, and his early novels--Player Piano and The Sirens of Titan--were categorized as such even as they appealed to an audience far beyond the reach of the category. In the 1960s, Vonnegut became closely associated with the Baby Boomer generation, a writer on that side, so to speak.
Now that Vonnegut's work has been studied as a large body of work, it has been more deeply understood and unified. There is a consistency to his satirical insight, humor and anger which makes his work so synergistic. It seems clear that the more of Vonnegut's work you read, the more it resonates and the more you wish to read. Scholars believe that Vonnegut's reputation (like Mark Twain's) will grow steadily through the decades as his work continues to increase in relevance and new connections are formed, new insights made.
ABOUT THE SERIES
Author Kurt Vonnegut is considered by most to be one of the most important writers of the twentieth century. His books Slaughterhouse-Five (named after Vonnegut's World War II POW experience) and Cat's Cradle are considered among his top works. RosettaBooks offers here a complete range of Vonnegut's work, including his first novel (Player Piano, 1952) for readers familiar with Vonnegut's work as well as newcomers.
by E. D. Baker is bargain priced again--it was on sale this past spring--for $1.99. It is part of the The Big Deal: Kindle Books Up to 85% Off which started yesterday on Amazon and lasts through 10/5/14. It was the only fair tale related title on the list although there are some other fine titles for sale, too.Serafina was living the normal life of a village girl, when she gets a mysterious letter--her first letter ever, in fact--from a great aunt she's never heard of in another village. Little does 'Fina know, her great aunt is actually a Baba Yaga, a magical witch who lives in an even more magical cottage.
Summoned to the cottage, Serafina's life takes an amazing turn as she finds herself becoming the new Baba Yaga. But leaving behind home and the boy she loves isn't easy, and as Serafina grows into her new and magical role answering the first question any stranger might ask her with the truth, she also learns about the person she's meant to be, and that telling the future doesn't always mean knowing the right answers.
In her inimitable and bestselling way, ED Baker has crafted a funny and romantic story that combines some fabulous details from the original Slavic tale, with an all new spin!
Advertising Agency: Artplan, São Paulo, Brazil
Chief Creative Officer: Roberto Vilhena
Creative Director: Rodrigo Moraes
Art Director: Diogo Barbosa
Copywriter: Rodrigo Sanches
Illustrator: Mutato Art
Published: January 2014
by Scott Gustafson will be released this Tuesday. A companion book of Gustafson's bestselling Classic Fairy Tales, over ten years in the making.
Once upon a time, artist Scott Gustafson set out to illustrate classic stories, fairy tales, and nursery rhymes. Decades later, his immediately recognizable paintings have made bestsellers of Peter Pan, The Night Before Christmas, Classic Fairy Tales and Favorite Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose. Now he gives us Classic Bedtime Stories, a lavishly illustrated, oversized collection of some of his favorite tales.
Stories such as “Sleeping Beauty,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,” and “Sambha and the Tigers” leap off the page thanks to Gustafson’s exquisite paintings and lively retelling of these classics. “The Lion and the Mouse” and “The Country Mouse and the City Mouse” demonstrate his talent at creating uncanny anthropomorphic characters who keep us smiling even as they teach us about tolerance, diversity, and the Golden Rule.
A book that even adults will enjoy reading aloud again and again,Classic Bedtime Stories will keep youngsters of all ages engaged for hours. Gustafson’s unique style makes this a volume to be cherished by children, parents, and grandparents for generations to come.
by Katherine Harbour is on sale in ebook format for $1.99. Released earlier this year, this is a Tam Lin retelling.Combining the sorcery of The Night Circus with the malefic suspense of A Secret History, Thorn Jack is a spectacular, modern retelling of the ancient Scottish ballad, Tam Lin—a beguiling fusion of love, fantasy, and myth that echoes the imaginative artistry of the works of Neil Gaiman, Cassandra Clare, and Melissa Marr.
In the wake of her older sister’s suicide, Finn Sullivan and her father move to a quaint town in upstate New York. Populated with socialites, hippies, and dramatic artists, every corner of this new place holds bright possibilities—and dark enigmas, including the devastatingly attractive Jack Fata, scion of one of the town’s most powerful families.
As she begins to settle in, Finn discovers that beneath its pretty, placid surface, the town and its denizens—especially the Fata family—wield an irresistible charm and dangerous power, a tempting and terrifying blend of good and evil, magic and mystery, that holds dangerous consequences for an innocent and curious girl like Finn.
To free herself and save her beloved Jack, Finn must confront the fearsome Fata family . . . a battle that will lead to shocking secrets about her sister’s death.
by Wilhelm Grimm (Author), Jacob Grimm (Author), Yann Legendre (Illustrator) was released this month and has some fascinating illustrations of Grimms. Although I have shared the color illustration work primarily below, the B&W is my favorite from the previews I have seen. But one color image of Aschenputtel below is a new favorite, too. Of course, the publisher uses Cinderella as the name here but if there are Grimms involved and a tree, it's Aschenputtel folks!
Rockport revisits these classics in a new series lushly illustrated by some of today's most endearing and sought-after artists. These aren't your typical classics--our artists reinterpret these stories and create a stunning presentation unlike any you've ever seen. Book enthusiasts and artisans will want to collect the entire series. French artist Yann Legendre takes readers on a beautiful journey through the stories by the brothers Grimm, with his luscious imagery. These stories take on a whole new meaning when accompanied by Legendre's mystical, colorful interpretations. This edition of the Classics Reimagined series will excite and enthrall all!?
About the Illustrator
Yann Legendre is an internationally recognized illustrator, designer and art director based in Paris. His illustrations have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, The New Yorker, The Reader, Perspective Magazine, le Monde... He is the art director of the French publisher Inculte, designing each book cover and every illustrated book series. He regularly creates illustrations for Universal Music in London, the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago, Janus Films and the Criterion Collection in New York. In 2011, CB2 (Crate & Barrel) commissioned him to illustrate a new collection of furniture called "Fresh Ink". In 2010 he started a collaboration with the filmmaker Joe Swanberg, designing and illustrating all of the director's movie posters. Yann received an Award of Excellence for the best movie poster design from the South by Southwest Film Festival.
and The Captive Maiden by Melanie Dickerson are both on sale in ebook format for 99 cents each. They have been on sale previously but are usually in the $5 range and this is the lowest price they have ever reached.
is a retelling of The Frog Prince and the description for how the Frog Prince plot devices are used are rather clever. I'm always fascinated with people's imaginations. I'm also thrilled that Frog Prince is getting an interpretation. I keep waiting for authors to be inspired by it but the only regular modern playfulness of it tends to come in picture book fractured tales--there's not even that many straightforward versions of it in picture books. Nor did Disney's Princess and the Frog spike a resurgence of this tale from publishers, very unusual.:Sophie has long wished to get away from her stepmother’s jealous anger, and believes escape is her only chance to be happy. Then a young man named Gabe arrives from Hagenheim Castle, claiming she is betrothed to his older brother, and everything twists upside down. This could be her chance at freedom—but can she trust another person to keep her safe?
Gabe knows he defied his parents Rose and Wilhelm by going to find Sophie, and now he believes they had a right to worry: the orphan girl has stolen his heart. Though romance is impossible—she is his brother’s future wife, and Gabe himself is betrothed to someone else—he promises to himself he will keep her safe, no matter what.
When the pair are forced to run to the Cottage of the Seven, they find help—but also find their feelings for each other have grown. Can they find a way to protect Sophie while also safeguarding their hearts?
:Happily Ever After …
Or Happily Nevermore?
Gisela’s childhood was filled with laughter and visits from nobles such as the duke and his young son. But since her father’s death, each day has been filled with nothing but servitude to her stepmother. So when Gisela learns the duke’s son, Valten—the boy she has daydreamed about for years—is throwing a ball in hopes of finding a wife, she vows to find a way to attend, even if it’s only for a taste of a life she’ll never have. To her surprise, she catches Valten’s eye. Though he is rough around the edges, Gisela finds Valten has completely captured her heart. But other forces are bent on keeping the two from falling further in love, putting Gisela in more danger than she ever imagined.
